The New Mutants
by darkstorm5000
Summary: The Sentinels have been defeated! Now, both Xavier’s School for the Gifted and The Massachusetts Academy have turned their full attention towards molding the next generation of mutants. Final Chapter Added.
1. Story 1

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

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A/N: This fic is a continuation from my previous story titled A Force Unleashed.

Story 1- The New Mutants

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"_Mutation. It is the key to evolutio--_"

_No wait, that's already been done to death. Um, how about this_…

The Sentinels have been defeated, thanks to the combined efforts and cooperation between SHIELD, the premiere international law enforcement organization with jurisdiction worldwide; the X-Men, a group of powerful mutants brought together by Professor Charles Xavier, who are dedicated to protecting a world that often times fears and hates them because of the very powers that they use in its defense; and the Brotherhood, another formidable team of mutants assembled by the Mutant Master of Magnetism known to the world as Magneto, a counter-force with the express purpose of ensuring that homo-superior's place in the world is absolutely guaranteed, even if that requires employing more pro-active, and often-times more hostile tactics, than their mutant counter-parts to accomplish their goal.

But now, after having been taken to and then yanked back from the brink of potential Armageddon thanks these disparate heroes, the question that they and the rest of the world were left to answer was where do they go from there?

With respect to the X-Men, following their hard-fought victory over the Sentinels they had returned back home to Professor Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted in Westchester County, New York, which also serves as their base of operations. In the weeks following the fall of the Sentinels, the school's attention had turned back towards the younger students at this institute of learning, focusing on the next generation of mutants.

In addition to concentrating on an intense academia curriculum, Professor Xavier, Scott Summers, Ororo Munroe, and Kurt Wagner had also begun to train the junior students in the complete use of their mutant powers, going beyond merely showing them how to control these abilities to prevent them from being a danger to themselves or to the general public. It was during this time that the junior students had also been promoted, and designated as the school's new junior X-Men squad.

For these young men and women, just the fact that they were being referred to as a junior X-Men meant so very much to them. It signified in their minds that they were one step closer to seeing the day when they would be able to use their spectacular abilities to protect the world around them, and closer to that day when they would be truly counted amongst the ranks of the X-Men.

But, such a remarkable endeavor was not met with total enthusiasm by all of the other students at the school, specifically with one member of the X-Men's senior-student squad. This was despite the fact that her opinion on these changes, which she was currently vocalizing at this very moment, was not lacking in emotion, intensity, and most definitely not in volume…

"**Professor Xavier is-a-jerk**!" Said the young lady, who was now displaying why she had earned the unofficial title and nickname from her peers of 'The Most Dangerous Mouth in the Mansion'. She was also making her feelings on the subject of a brand new junior X-Men squad being established at the school quite clear from within the metallic underground corridors, which had been built beneath the venerable and spacious estate on Greymalkin Lane. She also proved that no matter the time and place, there are just some things that will always remain a constant.

"Geez Kitty, why don't cha, like, calm down with alla your teen-queen drama before ya go and pop a blood vessel or somethin'?" Jubilation Lee, who went by the shorter and simpler nickname/codename of Jubilee smirked, as she slowly spoke to her teammate in a very laid back tone. Jubilee was sitting on a cold steel bench in the ladies' locker room located in the underground section of the school, putting on the boots that went with her customized black and yellow-trimmed leather X-Men uniform.

"I will not calm down, and I meant what I said!" Kitty Pryde angrily replied, as the girl also known as Shadowcat sat on a bench that was adjacent to Jubilee's. While she loudly expressed her vehement displeasure, Kitty also continued to put the finishing touches on her black and pink-trimmed leather uniform, strapping up her black leather boots and reaching for the black matching gloves that sat right next to her on the bench.

"The way you're yellin', you'd think the Professor had went and demoted you back down to the junior squad. All he did was put us in charge of helping to train them with their powers in the Danger Room. Anyways, this teaching assistant thing might not be sooo bad after all." Jubilee replied, as she stood up from her bench and put on an accessorizing yellow-trimmed black leather coat that went with her uniform.

"Yeah, and I, LIKE, might just wake up tomorrow LIKE talking like you do, 'kay?" Kitty sarcastically replied from her bench, hardly convinced that any good could come of their new responsibilities, "So, what are we now, glorified baby-sitters?"

"Hey, it beats being in class with our heads buried in a book." Jubilee tried to point out.

"Says you." Kitty snidely responded, as the girl with chestnut-brown hair also stood up, now fully dressed in her uniform.

"Well, I guess to a total bookworm like you, that was a bad example. But still, I like figured you'd jump at the chance to finally train with some kids closer to you in age." The almost seventeen-year old Jubilee replied.

"Personally, I think it's an awful idea. I mean, let's be honest. How long do you think it'll be before Professor Xavier sees me training with them, and decides it'd be a good idea to bump me back down to the B-team, with 'B' standing for baby?" Kitty wondered aloud.

Although she was just weeks away from her fifteenth birthday, and even though she had more than proven herself during the fight against the Sentinels, Kitty was still afraid of Professor Xavier not seeing her as an equal amongst her senior-squad teammates.

"You're just talkin' crazy. If it wasn't for Rogue already bein' deputy boss-lady extraordinaire, the Professor just might've put you in charge of the Senior-squad, 'Kit-Cat'." Jubilee tried to reassure her.

"Well at this point, I'll just be happy if I don't have to turn in my super-secret senior badge." Kitty replied, still very self-conscious about the age difference between both her and her senior-squad teammates, and in particular with her boyfriend, one Piotr 'Peter' Rasputin.

**……………………………….**

Meanwhile, out in the steel-tiled hallway that stood in between the men's and women's locker rooms, two more of the X-Men's older members were already dressed and ready in their black leather uniforms. Right now, they were currently engaged in a conversation, which wasn't all too different from the one that Jubilee and Kitty had been having.

"I'm tellin' you _Chere_, puttin' me in charge of anyone, 'specially kids, is a bad idea." Remy Lebeau, the one and only Gambit said, as he stood dressed in a black and brown-trimmed leather uniform that was complete with a black trench coat, and revealed his own misgivings about this new school arrangement.

"And Ah'm tellin' you, you're gonna do just fine, 'Sugah'." Marie D'Acanto, although everyone wondered why she didn't just go ahead and legally change her name to Rogue since that's all she ever went by encouragingly replied, as she stood right in front of Remy and looked up into his almost hypnotic red-on-black eyes, while wearing her black and green-trimmed hooded uniform, "Besides, with Logan gone back to Japan to see Mariko, you're perfect to help them with their survival skills training."

"But, de _Professeur_ don't want me t'just help them, he and 'Stormy' seem t'be set on me becomin' a full-time instructor and teacher here." Remy said to Rogue, his tone showing a rare lack of confidence in his own abilities, "Her exact words were, and I quote, 'Although you have neither de penchant for violence nor de severe disdain for aut'ority dat Logan possesses, given your background and extensive capabilities you are an ideal candidate t'fill de void left by his extended departure, and t'take over his survival skills and self-defense class'."

"Ah still don't see a problem there." Rogue told him.

"De problem is dat I don't have clue one 'bout teachin' anyone, anythin'!" Remy anxiously confessed.

"Ah think you're a lot more qualified to do it than you're givin' yourself credit for." Rogue responded, as she now came up to give Remy a very affectionate hug, slowly running her black-leather gloved hand gently down the side of his face and pushing back a few strands of his hair that had escaped the ponytail that he had tied his hair back into.

"Well, I was just 'bout to say I t'ink I need a drink t'get my nerves together, but standin' here like dis wit' you seems t'have done de trick." Remy replied, as Rogue stood pressed up close to him with her head against his chest. She could see that a bit of Remy's usually cocky swagger was now starting to return to him as a result.

"Ah'd give you a kiss for good luck, but we both know where that'd end up." Rogue smiled, as she facetiously looked up and told him.

"Yeah, wit' you showin' everyone how good your CPR skills are." Remy playfully responded, "Just tell me t'go out there and break a leg, and dat'll be good enough for me."

Then, out of the women's locker room came both Kitty and Jubilee into the fluorescently-lit underground corridor to join the couple.

"I don't know if anyone told you two, but we're not teaching sex-ed. At least not today, anyways." Jubilee very characteristically joked with the Rogue and Remy, as she took notice of the romantic embrace that they were still in.

"I wish it was, then at least I'd be able t'teach de kids somethin' I knew a lot about." Remy smirked and unabashedly responded, which drew a loud smack on his shoulder from Rogue's hand scoldingly slapping it.

"I definitely second that." Kitty remarked to the group.

"And what exactly would you know about to second him anyways, 'Girl-who-just-barely-got-up-the-courage-to-talk-to-her-now-boyfriend-only-a-month-ago'?" Jubilee asked Kitty.

"Maybe, because I know ALOT more about sex 'n stuff than you guys give me credit for." Kitty replied with a huge grin evident on her face, which drew a double-take from Rogue, Jubilee, and even Remy.

Almost as if on cue, the last two members of the X-Men's senior-student squad came out of the men's locker room and made their appearance in the corridor.

"Peter, you should come out here and hear your girlfriend braggin' about all the freaky sex positions that she claims to know about. I tell ya, I can't believe she kisses her Mom with a mouth like that." Jubilee said to him, as she continued her light-hearted teasing of Kitty and tried to embarrass the younger girl a little.

"Knowing _Katya_, I am almost afraid to find out." Peter Rasputin, the massively-built and appropriately code-named Colossus humorously stated, as he came out of the men's locker room on the opposite side of the hallway dressed in his sleeveless, black and red-trimmed leather uniform.

"I wasn't saying anything like that! And even if I was, there's absolutely nothing wrong with an empowered, young female having a healthy and open attitude about sex. At all." Kitty replied in a tone that conveyed an extreme amount of poise and certitude on her part, as she then came over to wrap her comparatively small arms around Peter's large torso.

"When I listen to it put that way, I could not agree more." Peter smiled, as he bent down to quickly kiss her on the lips.

"So, with that out of the way, I guess everybody's ready to head down to the Danger Room?" The last entrant into the corridor Bobby Drake, aka Iceman said, as he now stepped out of the men's locker room and into the hallway dressed in a black leather uniform trimmed in an ice-blue color.

"Yeah, can't wait." Kitty told him, now in her most unenthusiastic tone.

"I am certainly looking forward to this opportunity. The fact that the Professor trusts us with such a great responsibility, I think it is good, yes?" Peter commented to the group, which managed to lift Kitty's spirits significantly when she heard how much he wanted to participate in Professor Xavier's student mentoring program.

"Well gang, let's get goin'." Rogue now told the group, as the senior-squad's deputy leader was the first to turn and head down the corridor towards the Danger Room.

"Come on, you don't want to be late on your first day of teaching, do you?" Bobby remarked to Remy, as he came over and firmly slapped Remy on the back when he noticed that the Cajun X-Man was still standing in place, while everyone else had already begun to journey down the hallway.

"Nah, wouldn't want t'do dat, now would we?" Remy softly muttered to himself, as he made his way towards the Danger Room well behind the rest of the group, "Where a bus at t'come by and hit you when you really need one?"

**…………………………………….**

Down in the Danger Room, which was the name for the X-Men's highly-advanced training room that they used to hone their various mutant powers, the recently promoted junior X-Men were the first to enter the facility ahead of their senior counter-parts. They were dressed in uniforms that were almost identical to the X-Men's, except that they were all made with dark blue leather and were trimmed in silver to denote their junior status, but still gave each of the students a sense that they were a part of the team.

The junior and senior X-Men's uniforms were all made from a radical new material, a type of breathable leather that kept the wearer both cool in the summer months and warmer in the brisk months of winter. This was in addition to the fact that, thanks to a research agreement between the school's former interim headmaster Dr. Henry McCoy and his fellow colleague and good friend in the field of science, the Fantastic Four's Dr. Reed Richards, their uniforms' material had now been fused with unstable molecules to make them far more durable and better able to adapt to the wearer's specific mutant powers.

As they came in, each member of the junior-squad entering was:

Samuel Guthrie, code-named Cannonball, co-leader of the junior-squad and the heart and soul of his team. This son of a Kentucky coal-miner possesses the ability to generate and release bio-thermic energy from his body, which creates an impenetrable blast-field that surrounds and protects both him and anyone else in very close proximity to him from virtually any form of physical harm or injury. This tremendous energy discharge also allows Cannonball to propel himself through the air and fly, most often with mixed results.

Danielle Moonstar, code-named Mirage, a young Colorado-native raised in the region's beautiful and pristine mountains. Danielle was gifted, or some might say cursed, with the mutant ability to produce three-dimensional projections out of the minds of others around her. These holographic images are most often derived from the greatest fears of the person's mind that Danielle is in telepathic contact with, although she has been learning and practicing how to project a host of other virtual images as well.

Dani is also the other co-leader of the junior-squad, but whereas Sam may be the heart of the team able to bestow his strong sense of conviction into their collective efforts, Dani is the brains, the consummate tactician always able to remain cool and level-headed despite the difficulty of any obstacles placed before them. Recently, Dani has also gained the new mutant ability to communicate telepathically with certain animals, which has come in very handy thanks to the arrival of one of the newest students to the school.

Rahne Sinclair, code-named Wolfsbane, a recent arrival to Xavier's School for the Gifted following an attack on the Muir Island research complex where she had been living by the Sentinels. The Sentinels were sent there under the orders of the late Dr. Stephen Lang, who was the previous director of the United States government's secret program established to study the phenomenon of super-powered humans, known simply as Project: Wideawake. The Sentinels came to the island for the express purpose of abducting Rahne's adoptive mother, Dr. Moira MacTaggert.

After an intense and exhaustive battle between the robots and a small number of X-Men on the island, the Sentinels finally managed to spirit off with Dr. MacTaggert. This caused Rahne to become so distraught by this turn of events that she used her mutant power to meta-morph into the form of an actual wolf, complete with all of her animal counterpart's speed, strength, and acute senses, and then refused to change back. Since coming to the school, the exceedingly shy and very devout Rahne has finally managed to open up and become close to several of the students there, most notably and expectedly with Dani Moonstar due to their unique ability to communicate with one another while Rahne is in her lupine form.

Roberto Da Costa, code-named Sunspot, whose mutant ability to absorb solar energy in its most direct form gives him an as yet fully tapped level of superhuman strength. While the bi-racial son of a wealthy Brazilian businessman and American-born archaeologist mother possesses an over-abundance of confidence in his mutant powers, his strength is directly tied to his exposure to sunlight. Roberto can store a significant amount of solar energy in his body, but once his reserves are depleted, he must once again expose himself to the sun's rays to recharge himself.

Theresa Cassidy, code-named Siryn, who is the Irish-born daughter of the X-Men's friend and often-time ally Sean Cassidy, also known as Banshee. Theresa's mutant power gives her the ability to create intense sonic vibrations with her vocal chords, which are often manifested with a loud, high-pitched shrieking sound. Siryn also has the ability to create sonic waves around her body, which allow her to levitate up into the air. While she is able to fly very short distances with ease, the first time that she ever used her powers to fly for a significant amount of time was during the Battle of Muir Island between the X-Men and the Sentinels. She was able to cross a moderate-sized body of water from the main land of Scotland over to the island, all while carrying Rahne Sinclair in tow with her. But, Theresa wasn't yet prepared at that point to use her powers in such an extensive manner, and it left her vocal chords severely damaged for a few weeks afterwards.

Siryn's sonic-scream capabilities are almost identical to her father's, but Siryn has yet to fully master the intricacies of this power to the degree that her father has achieved. One such example is in her ability to vary and control the pitch, direction, and strength of her sonic-scream. So, at least for the time being, her teachers and classmates prefer that Siryn limit the use of her powers to training in the Danger Room to avoid having to once again repair numerous windows in the mansion, just as they had to do following Colonel William Stryker's takeover of the school the year before.

James Proudstar, code-named Warpath, the younger brother of John Proudstar, who himself as a teen left their reservation at Camp Verde, Arizona to become one of Professor Xavier's first students, and to become an initial member of his X-Men as the super-powered Thunderbird. Like his brother, James is gifted with super-human strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes, all in addition to having a very impressive and muscularly-built physique on his six-foot, four inch frame at the astounding age of only fourteen years. It is also assumed that James, like his brother, will only continue to grow as he nears adulthood and may very well surpass John's adult height of six feet, eleven inches tall, and his weight which is currently in excess of three hundred-fifty pounds. If this turns out to be the case, Warpath may one day be able to realistically give the armored Russian known as Colossus a good run for his money in the strength department.

Amara Aquilla, code-named Magma, the daughter of Lucius Antonius Aquilla, who is a respected Senator and goodwill ambassador to the world from the culturally rich and technologically innovative South American nation of Nova Roma. Amara's mutant ability allows her to convert her body into pure fire, along with being able to manipulate and control the Earth's tectonic plates to create miniature volcanoes in the immediate area around her. So frightening and destructive was her newfound power when it first emerged that Amara fled in fear into the dense jungle areas outside of Nova Roma. She only agreed to return from her self-imposed exile when the X-Men came to her aid, offering to bring her back to Westchester with them to learn how to better control these strange new abilities.

Julio Esteban 'J.E.' Richter, code-named Rictor, this Mexican-born teen was gifted with the power to create powerful seismic vibrations from his body that can make the immediate area around him appear as though it is in the middle of an earthquake. But, his powers don't seem to be tied directly to the Earth in the way that Magma's powers do, and seem to work in a fashion very similar to those of the Brotherhood member known as Avalanche. In addition to possessing a vibrant mutant power, Rictor also has a personality to match and is unafraid to say whatever may be on his mind. He also has a love for music, which is fortunate since the school has recently acquired the exclusive teaching services of musician extraordinaire, Alison Blaire.

Jones Davidson, code-named Circuit, the youngest member of the junior-squad who has the mutant power that allows him to psionically affect and control electrical and electronic devices around him. It is a power that he has generally only used on appliances around the mansion, such as changing the channels on the television or starting the microwave in the kitchen by simply blinking his eyes. But, since working with Professor Xavier and the rest of the faculty, this Ohio-native has been improving on learning new and more creative ways in which to employ his ability.

Jamie Madrox, code-named Multiple Kid who, just as his name states, is able to create multiple duplicate versions of himself, which he refers to as his 'dupes'. Jamie's power works when a strong enough force is applied against his body, such as clapping his hands, falling, or being hit, to cause him to split into two identical entities.

This farm-boy from the state of Kansas has been known to create up to six duplicates at once, but has yet to test the upper-limits of his powers beyond this point yet. Although Jamie's duplicates function with independent and separate thought, each one is connected to him and to each other through a form of psionic linkage. A born practical joker, Jamie loves to use his duplicates at any chance that he can to fake out his classmates, teachers, or anyone else nearby that he feels he is able to get a good laugh from, at their own expense of course.

"Ah wonder where the others are?" Sam was the first to say, as he and the rest of the junior X-Men entered the currently empty Danger Room in their blue and silver uniforms.

"Maybe they all decided to skip, and take today off?" Jamie commented, as he came into the Danger Room also.

"Your instructors for today will be along in just a moment. While you wait, you may go ahead and begin your calisthenics and other preparatory exercises for today's workout." Professor X said to the group through a speakerphone from the Danger Room's control booth above, where he, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler would be observing today's training session.

And in that short moment's time, Gambit, Rogue, Colossus, Jubilee, Iceman, and Shadowcat had finally arrived in the Danger Room.

"Alright guys, y'all know the routine." Rogue, the deputy-leader of the X-Men said to everyone in the Danger Room, but was speaking mainly for the benefit of the junior squad, "Since this is our first day being your teaching assistants, we're gonna stick with the same basic drills you've been running with Mr. Summers, Ms. Munroe, and Mr. Wagner for the last few weeks. But, stay on your toes because we're gonna pick up the pace a little and start throwin' in some new and unexpected aspects as we go along. It won't be anything too difficult, but it'll start gettin' you guys in the proper mindset for when you start runnin' full Danger Room scenarios down the line."

With that they all split up, with each senior X-Man taking one or two junior X-Men with them to begin the day's work out. From up above, Nightcrawler sat in front of the control booth's computer controls and converted the Danger Room into a gymnasium setting with various types of gymnastics equipment, such as a pommel horse, parallel bars, and high rings, along with other training apparatus geared to some of the junior X-Men's more specific needs.

Colossus went over with Sunspot to a foamed circular mat now laid out on the Danger Room's floor to work with him on the finer points of Judo and other self-defense techniques, as did Rogue, who took Warpath over to another mat to work on his hand-to-hand combat skills.

Iceman took Magma and Rictor over to another area of the Danger Room to run a target-practice drill designed to help the pair work on focusing their fire and seismic blasts with better accuracy. Meanwhile, Gambit took Siryn and Cannonball to work with them on improving their airborne skills by having them fly through an aerial obstacle course set up in the immense underground facility.

Since Jubilee had been an accomplished gymnast at a very early age, she took Mirage and Circuit to work with them on some of the gymnastics equipment in the Danger Room, while Shadowcat went with Multiple Kid and Wolfsbane to play a game of tag, as she used her phasing powers to avoid the pair while they tried to use their own mutant powers to tag her and make her 'it'.

"What you must remember Roberto is that while raw strength may be an unquestionable advantage to have in a fight, against a skilled opponent who has been trained to compensate for such a handicap, proper technique will be the deciding factor in who is victorious." Colossus said to Sunspot, as he had armored himself up by converting his entire body into living organic steel, while Sunspot used his solar-powers to supercharge his body, giving himself a tremendous boost in strength. But, a side effect of Sunspot utilizing his mutant powers was that his entire body and appearance took on a solid-black coloration, and surrounded him with an aura of crackling yellow energy.

Colossus then began to demonstrate some of the principles taught to him by Cyclops, one of the X-Men's leaders, as he and Sunspot took a grappling stance together.

"I want you to try to move me." Colossus told Sunspot, as Sunspot stood directly beside Colossus and gripped his armored body tightly.

"_Droga_! It…is impossible. You are too heavy, my strength is not enough to move you." Sunspot replied, as he strained and tried with all of his might to make Colossus budge, but soon realized that it was a futile effort.

Then, Colossus had Sunspot change positions with him, with Sunspot now standing behind him and grasping his steel body from a lower position on his torso.

"Now, try again." Colossus instructed the younger student in his Russian-accented voice. Sunspot now found it much easier to move Colossus and flipped him over his head, causing Colossus to contort himself in mid-air and land on his feet with a thundering thud, which caused a small vibration to go through the entire Danger Room as a result.

"I don't understand. I was able to move you with only one-quarter of the effort that time." Sunspot stated.

"It is called leverage _Tovarisch_, one of the core principles of physics. With proper leverage and perfect timing, a smaller opponent can quite possibly make a size disadvantage against him appear almost negligible." Colossus explained to Sunspot.

"And who said that we'll never use what we have learned in school in our everyday lives?" Sunspot joked, as the two soon went back to working on their grappling and Judo techniques.

At the same time, Rogue and Warpath were working on principles of self-defense as well.

"All right, you ready?" Rogue said, as she stood right in front of Warpath on another mat in the underground training facility, which as a whole was as big or bigger than most outdoor sports arenas.

"Um, maybe I should be working out with Peter instead?" Warpath apprehensively said to Rogue.

"You don't have to worry about my absorption powers. Even though you have the sleeves cutoff from your outfit, you're still wearing your leather gloves and my entire body is completely covered in my uniform." Rogue reassuringly said to Warpath, "So, as long as you don't try to kiss or head-butt me, you'll be fine."

But, despite Rogue's attempts to alleviate Warpath's concerns with a bit of humor, he still seemed to be uneasy with his training partner assignment.

"Yeah, I know all of that. It's just…that…" Warpath said as he fumbled out the words.

Then, it finally hit Rogue as to why he was acting so tense around her.

"James, is the reason you don't want to train with me because, 'gasp', Ah'm a girl?" Rogue smirked, as she delivered her scathing remark to Warpath.

"Yes. Wait, I mean no! It's just…it's just that I don't want to accidentally hurt you." Warpath honestly replied to her inquiry.

"Well, you don't have to worry any about hurtin' this gal. To hurt me you first have to hit me, and trust me when Ah say that's easier said than done." Rogue asserted, "Now, just pretend that Ah'm one of the guys, and hit me with your best shot."

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Warpath remarked, as he immediately launched full-force into the most powerful right hook that he could muster. But, to Warpath's surprise, by the time his huge fist had reached its target, Rogue was nowhere in sight.

Thanks to the hours on top of hours of training that Rogue had endured over the last year with the X-Men's Wolverine, she now had extensive knowledge on a multitude of varying martial arts disciplines and other fighting schools of thought, which was now on display in living color for the Native-American teen. As Warpath continued swinging punch after punch at Rogue, she easily dodged each one of his blows. After a couple of minutes of avoiding Warpath's potentially devastating haymakers, Rogue quickly and unexpectedly grabbed ahold of Warpath by one of his massive arms, jumping up into the air and flipping backwards around him. She used her own body's weight in conjunction with Warpath's immense size and their combined momentum to violently wrench him down to the ground, pinning the younger but much larger student to the foam circular mat that they were training on.

"Ah'd say Ah made my point, don't you?" Rogue said to Warpath, as she laid on her side on the floor right behind Warpath with her hands, arms and legs wrapped tightly around both of his muscular arms, pinning them back behind him in what looked to be a wrestling submission hold.

"Uggnnhh…I'm not really in a position to disagree with you right now." Warpath semi-sarcastically replied, as Rogue went ahead and released him from the extremely confining hold that she had him in, and helped the junior X-Man back up to his feet.

"Well, now that we've gotten all of your hesitations about practicin' with lil' ole me outta your system, let's get to work and Ah'll show you how you can improve on your hand-to-hand technique." Rogue offered, as she looked up at Warpath while he retied his medium-length, jet-black hair back into the ponytail that he had it in before Rogue had knocked him down to the Danger Room floor.

"Okay, sure." A now more receptive Warpath replied, as Rogue now began her instruction in earnest by first showing Warpath how to get into a proper initial fighting stance.

**……………………………….**

Close by in the Danger Room, Jubilee was personally demonstrating to both Circuit and Mirage how to run and make a proper dismount from the pommel horse in there.

"Wow, Dani! You're really pickin' this stuff up like a pro." Jubilee complimented Mirage, commenting on her ability to almost instantaneously pick up what Jubilee had just shown them on the various pieces of gym equipment.

"Growing up in the mountains, my parents and Grandfather taught me in the ways of the Cheyenne. I spent a lot of my time hiking and learning to hunt in the wilderness, so I'm used to physical activity. Getting on these uneven bars are just like when I would climb the huge trees back home, so I could survey the area and landscape around me." Mirage replied, as she stood with Jubilee and Circuit with her long, black hair tied with light-blue ribbon into two long pigtails on each side of her head.

"Lucky you. I just wish it came that easily to me." Circuit interjected, as he commented on the difficulties that he was having with the various drills, since athletics weren't really his strongest-suit.

"Don't worry, you'll have this down in no time. And that's a Jubilee-guarantee." Jubilee said reassuringly to him.

At that same moment over in a separate part of the Danger Room, another student was also having difficulties of her own with this day's training session.

"I just can't do it!" Magma exclaimed, as the brownish-blonde haired student was having little success with the accuracy drill that Iceman was instructing her and Rictor in. While Rictor had been dead-on from the outset with hitting the moving targets placed before them, Amara had missed every single one thus far, "I give up, I'll never be able to shoot a fire-ball straight."

"Not if you have an attitude like that, you won't." Iceman replied, as something then came to mind, "Wait, I know. Assume your fire-form, and see if that helps your aim any."

"Um, I don't think that's a very good idea. The last time I did that, I nearly destroyed a whole neighborhood back home in Nova Roma." Magma reminded him, in a voice that was remarkably proper in its tone, if not just as nervous, "I just don't have enough control over my powers yet."

"You'll get it eventually. That's the reason why you're here, why we're all here, to learn and to improve." Iceman told her, "I tell you what, I think part of your problem is that you just need to relax. I want you to close your eyes, and take in a few deep breaths."

"Okay." Magma said, as she then did as Iceman had requested of her.

"Now, imagine yourself in full control of your powers. You're not feeling any anxieties at all because using them has become so easy that it's now second-nature to you." Iceman continued telling her.

As Magma continued to project these images into her mind, a small smile then appeared across her face. Then, Bobby spoke to her again.

"Go ahead and open your eyes, I want you to take a look at yourself." Bobby told Magma.

Magma opened her eyes as he had instructed, and to her astonishment, she saw that her entire body was now consumed by pure flame. She had achieved her conversion into fire-form, and had done so without causing any major damage to the Danger Room around her.

"I did it, I really did it!" Magma excitedly said, as she began jumping up and down.

"Just keep your mind relaxed like I told you, and I want you to take another shot at the targets." Iceman said, as he clicked a button on a small remote in his right hand, which activated the moving bulls-eye markers about 30 yards in front of them. Magma did just as Iceman asked her, concentrating her body's fire energy and shooting one fire-ball after another at the targets, hitting each one right in its center.

"Damn, Bobby! You some kinda miracle-worker or somethin'?" Rictor now asked Iceman, as the reddish-brown haired Latino referred to the way that he had so effectively helped Magma with this particular drill, one which she had been having trouble with for the last few weeks.

"Not by a long shot. All I did was have Amara use some of the same relaxation techniques that I've learned in my therapy sessions, that's all." Iceman replied, as they watched Magma continue with the targeting session, and saw her now growing more and more confident in her abilities with each passing second.

**……………………………..**

Also in another section of the Danger Room, which had been cordoned off like the others with thin, violet light-beams serving as boundary markers, Shadowcat, Multiple Kid, and Wolfsbane continued playing their game of cat and mous…er, cat and wolf, as the two junior X-Men tried to make good on the objective of their training session, which stated that they simply had to physically touch Shadowcat. It was a task, however, that had quickly proved to be far more difficult than would appear at first glance.

"Me and my dupes are gonna get you, you can't keep this up forever." Multiple Kid told Shadowcat, as he and six duplicate versions of himself ran over and converged on her.

"We'll see." Shadowcat smiled, as she did a back flip that went into a full frontal somersault to avoid Multiple Kid's duplicates, and then stopped to watch as three of them ran into each other in the confusion. But, Shadowcat was immediately reminded that she couldn't remain a spectator for too long, as Wolfsbane had now transformed herself into a large brown wolf, and used her sturdy lupine legs to launch herself into the air and came sailing right towards Shadowcat.

Shadowcat continued to successfully avoid the pair by utilizing her agile and almost cat-like reflexes, which she had honed to an exceptional degree over the last year in this very Danger Room. Shadowcat then also employed her mutant ability to phase through solid objects against Wolfsbane and Multiple Kid's dupes, by phasing down through the floor and then back up each time that the pair thought that they had finally cornered her.

But true to Multiple Kid's word, the exhaustion of having to combat the overwhelming odds that he and his one-man army posed, in addition to dealing with the gracefully swift animal-prowess of Wolfbane in her full wolf form, was indeed starting to take a toll physically on Shadowcat. It was in that moment that something occurred to Multiple Kid, and he suddenly got an idea. While he commanded his dupes through their psi-link to continue their pursuit of Shadowcat and keep her occupied, he went over to inform Wolfsbane of his brilliant new strategy.

After their very brief conference, Multiple Kid then went back over to join his dupes, while Wolfsbane now stood back and watched them, waiting for the perfect moment to put their new plan to action. And it wasn't very long before the opportunity would present itself.

A while back, Multiple Kid had remembered overhearing one of the older kids casually talking about Shadowcat's power, and about how she had to hold her breath when she used it to phase through solid objects. So, he and his dupes continued to slowly corral an unawares Shadowcat into his and Wolfsbane's trap. Then, Wolfsbane saw her opening and leapt at Shadowcat, catching her off-guard in between phases just as she was coming back up through the floor, and had made herself tangible again for a short time to take a breath.

**Whoompff**!

Was the sound heard, as Wolfsbane had finally managed to tackle Shadowcat, and wrestled her face down onto the Danger Room's floor.

"Aww man, you guys got me." A somewhat disappointed Shadowcat said, as she rolled over onto her back to see Wolfsbane still standing over her in her full wolf form, "But, that was just beginner's luck anyways."

With those words, Wolfsbane decided to force a confession out of Shadowcat about her's and Multiple Kid's abilities, using her own special method.

"Hahahahaha! Okay, Okay, you guys beat me fair and square!" Shadowcat laughed loudly, as she had been giggling from the tickling sensations of Wolfsbane licking her face, and now finally admitted what the two had accomplished today, "So, how about the best two out of three?"

After hearing the request for a rematch, Wolfsbane then stepped aside to let Shadowcat stand up, and soon she, Multiple Kid, and Shadowcat were back at their game of tag once again.

Simultaneously, over on the opposite side of the Danger Room from Rogue was her own lothario in leather, Gambit, who now was slowly beginning to settle into his role of reluctant instructor.

"Siryn, Cannonball, I want you two t'keep flyin' through de obstacle course just like Stormy been showin' you." Gambit instructed the two junior X-Men from the floor of the Danger Room, as the pair was now circling far up above him.

Siryn and Cannonball continued to do as Gambit requested, using each of their unique mutant powers to navigate their way through the aerial obstacle course. It was the very same type of course that Angel and Storm had used during their days as students at the school to hone their own flight capabilities, and that Nightcrawler had now incorporated into his own personal acrobatic training sessions, by using a high-bar and his teleportation powers to fly through the series of very large rings suspended in the air up above in the Danger Room.

"Betcha I can beat ye t'the finish line this time!" Siryn said, as she challenged Cannonball while they were flying together through the aerial course that went around the whole of the Danger Room.

"You're on!" Cannonball immediately replied, as he was still able to hear Siryn, all in spite of the roar of his kinetic blast-field and of the high-pitched sonic scream that she was employing to fly.

It was also a challenge that even Gambit was able to hear from the ground below them, as he watched the two students begin racing with one another at a ridiculously rapid rate overhead.

"No, don't be doin' dat just yet! You two gotta get de hang of flyin' at a normal speed first, before you try t'see who de fastest is." Gambit called up to them from the ground, but to no avail as they continued their impromptu race.

Then…

"**_Merde_**, tell me dis ain't happenin'!"

Gambit's worst fears about him being a teacher were seemingly come true before his very eyes, almost as if what he had said to the new love in his life out in hallway minutes before were some sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Gambit watched helplessly from the ground, as the young man with short-blonde hair flying high above him accidentally veered off path, and then slammed into the red-haired young lady flying right next to him. While Cannonball's blast-field would insure the fact that he would walk away from a tumble down at that height in one piece, Siryn didn't have that same guarantee. So, acting on pure instinct, Gambit reacted and did the first thing that came to mind. He sprinted faster than he had ever run before, hoping that he would prevent a tragedy from occurring this day.

"Gotta time dis just right." Gambit said to himself, as he continued running as fast as his nimble legs would take him, tracking the path of Siryn's descent to the ground the entire time. Gambit then reached his hand directly behind him and pulled out his reinforced metallic fighting staff. With the push of a single button, the staff extended and Gambit then planted it on the steel floor, using it to catapult himself as high up into the air as he could.

With amazing adroitness, accuracy and timing, Gambit succeeded in grabbing onto an unconscious Siryn moments before she plummeted into the solid, unforgiving floor of the Danger Room. With Siryn now firm within his grasp, both she and Gambit tumbled hard across the steel floor, rolling over and over and over, with Gambit shielding and protecting her as best he could. When they finally came to a stop, both Gambit and Siryn lay on the floor close together, as Rogue, Colossus and the other senior-students came over to ensure that they were okay, while everyone else in the Danger Room stopped their training sessions to observe what was going on.

"_Demoiselle_, say, you alright?" Gambit asked Siryn, as the freckle-faced young girl still lay unconscious across the top of him.

Gambit still had his arms protectively clutched around Siryn and they were also wrapped up in the leather cape that was a part of her uniform, which was similar to the cape on Storm's uniform and served the same purpose of giving Siryn additional maneuverability while she was flying in the air.

"I think so. I just feel…like I've been hit by a truck or somethin' is all." Siryn finally muttered, as she slightly lifted her head to look at Gambit and started to come around.

"Well, I know de feelin'." Gambit told her with a slight smile, referring to the fact that he had used his own body to protect both himself and her from the impact of their landing. Meanwhile, Cannonball came down with a rough, but still satisfactory landing not too far away from them.

**………………………….**

Up above in the Danger Room's control booth, Nightcrawler, Professor Xavier, Storm, and Cyclops all commented on what they had just witnessed down below.

"I would say that to be a good indicator the time for today's training session has just expired, and has come to a screeching halt." Kurt Wagner joked slightly in his German-accented voice, as he sat at the Danger Room's controls in the observation booth above and began shutting down the various training programs that had been running in there.

"We're just fortunate that today's session is not all that met an unexpected end today." Professor Xavier remarked, referring to the close call caused by Siryn and Cannonball's mid-air collision, "We're only fortunate that Gambit's quick thinking on his first day of student-teaching prevented Siryn from receiving a far more serious injury than just a slightly-bruised body, or heavily-bruised ego."

"Samuel and Theresa know better than to behave in such a manner. We've repeatedly stressed to all of the children that the Danger Room is no place for that kind of horseplay." Ororo said in an exasperated tone, as she stood at the observation window and watched Rogue and Kitty put their first aid training into use by checking Remy and Theresa over, making sure that they weren't seriously injured from their fall.

"Well, it's a point that I'm going to reinforce, after I have a nice long talk with both Sam and Terry, and issue each of them the demerits that they've definitely earned today." Scott added, as he also stood at the large window in between where Ororo was, and where Professor Xavier was sitting in his wheelchair.

"In spite of the near disaster, how do you think today's exercise went, _Herr_ Professor?" Kurt now turned in his seat to ask Professor Xavier.

"Ultimately, I believe that it will benefit both the junior and senior students equally in the long run. If my years of experience in the field of education have revealed anything to me, it is that learning is a two-way street. In my case, I often feel that in many ways my students have given me just as much, if not more, knowledge than I have attempted to impart upon them." Professor Xavier replied, as he, Ororo, Scott, and Kurt could see both Remy and Theresa were now able to stand up under their own volition, and then watched as the students and the student-teacher began to slowly file out of the Danger Room.

**……………………………………..**

Next Chapter: A look over at the Massachusetts Academy for some** Alternative School **action…

**……………………………………..**

A/N: Special thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapters of A Force Unleashed-

**Lucas'sgirl**- Sorry about missing your ch. 12 review, I guess FFNet was behind in posting and I didn't see it until after I had put up ch. 13. But, I appreciate the review you gave, and I'm glad that you liked the fight scene and the Pyro/Iceman stuff. Lockheed was a wild card that I wasn't sure how readers would react to, but it seems like everyone likes his inclusion, so you can expect to see more of him in the future too. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this first chapter and what's in store next.

**El Varon**- Glad you liked the nods to the rest of the Marvel Movie-verse, even if some of the characters mentioned don't have a movie out yet. I'm like you, I'd love to see them mention one another also. But, I think that since some of the rights are owned by different movie studios, legally they may not be able to do so in many cases. As far as Storm, the only real problem I've had with her dialogue is how to find middle ground between her canon version, while incorporating what they've done with her movie-counterpart, which is something I've also had to work on with some of the other characters too.

**Episodic**- I see that you beat me in the update race. And, I hope that you enjoyed the first story in what I think will prove to be a very up and down roller-coaster ride in this fic, one which may have a few twists and turns that you just might not be expecting at all.

**Independent Fire**- I'm glad I'm able to keep you so interested in everything, and I'll try REAL hard not to disappoint.

**Moon Comix**- Glad you liked the previous story, and I hope you like this one too.

**TheDreamerLady**- Well, hopefully this update was able to lift your (and Lanco's) spirits after the end of A Force Unleashed.

**ME**- Yeah, with the chapters titled Alternative School, that's just a designation that I put on chapters that focus on the students at the Massachussetts Academy. Alternative School part 1 was actually published as part of another fic I started prior to A Force Unleashed, titled A Force to be Reckoned With, and was originally posted as chapter 14.

**Digital Tempest**- I'm just glad you liked everything.


	2. Stories 2 & 3

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**…………………………………………..**

Story 2- Alternative School Part 5, The New Hellions?

**…………………………………………..**

_The Massachusetts Preparatory Academy_.

Established in 1856 outside of the small and quiet township of Snow Valley, Massachusetts, for decades this exclusive private school standing in the shadows of the majestic Berkshire Mountains has prepared and educated children from some of the wealthiest and most influential families throughout the United States and beyond.

But times do change, and this sprawling, multi-acre campus now serves a different and seemingly more altruistic purpose thanks to its current Headmistress, one Emma Grace Frost, who has bought the school and opened its doors to a student body that is more varied and culturally diverse than ever before. While the school now also functions under the guise of reaching out to help disadvantaged and troubled youth by including them among its more traditional student pool, in truth, there is far more going on here than meets the eye. It is a fact that makes the Massachusetts Academy as much a place of fresh starts, as it is a place of secrets.

Foremost amongst its confidentialities that are kept carefully guarded from the outside world, is that the student body at the Massachusetts Academy is in reality comprised entirely of mutants, individuals born with a specific genetic quirk that gives them unique and fantastic abilities. Upon further investigation into the duplicitous web being woven around the school's true intent and mission reveals that the institute has been operating with the full backing and support from the Headmistress' fellow associates in their Inner Circle, a very covert and extremely powerful faction within the world-renowned organization known as the Hellfire Club.

The most shocking revelation, however, would be that Emma Frost, who also holds the coveted title of White Queen within this clandestine Inner Circle, has entered into a partnership with the infamous Master of Magnetism, the fugitive mutant-terrorist known as Magneto. Unknown to the rest of the world, and even to a good portion of the student body currently at the Massachusetts Academy, is that the next generation of mutants currently in its attendance are being groomed in preparation to one day become a part of the Brotherhood of Mutants, a force that Magneto, Emma Frost, and the rest of the Inner Circle believe will play a crucial role in their future plans for global domination.

At the moment, however, all of the students at the Massachusetts Academy are slowly gathering in the foyer area of the main dormitory on campus, having been telepathically summoned by their Headmistress for an assembly within on this early summer afternoon. The purpose of this assembly is so they can to greet her following a lengthy journey that she has just flown in from, but more importantly, to welcome the school's newest recruits also returning with her.

"So, _Mon Ami_, how much do you wish to wager that one of these new students that Mistress Frost has found is an _absolu_ loser?" Matthieu Everard, the electrifying blonde teen codenamed Bevatron said, as he and a few of his fellow junior-level classmates came in from the student center located close by in the same building, and were the first to enter the large reception room, which was furnished with expensive, antique furniture throughout the entire area.

"If they are losers, then you can attribute it to Miss Frost simply bringing them here to make sure that you have some company." Haroun al-Rashid, the dark-haired native of Morocco also known as the high-flying, rocket-powered mutant codenamed Jetstream quipped in response.

Coming in with Bevatron and Jetstream were Sharon Smith, codenamed Catseye because of her ability to morph herself into various feline forms, which she was doing at the moment, as a lavender-hued housecat sauntered into the foyer alongside the two boys; Angelica Jones, the red-headed teen codenamed Firestar for her ability to produce powerful microwave energy from her body; and Demarcus Fonseca, one of the more recent students brought to the school who also went by the codename of Chrome for his ability to affect and alter both organic and inorganic matter, leaving it in a temporary metalloid state.

Just then, the large wooden front door opened, and in entered a stunningly beautiful woman with platinum-blonde hair, dressed in a white satin blouse with a French-cut collar, matching pants also tailor-made from the finest of materials, and wearing an expensive pair of ivory-colored designer boots. The school's Headmistress Emma Frost came into the foyer, followed by the new students that she had previously informed her other pupils were accompanying her this day.

As the junior students took in the sight of their new classmates, and now new teammates, the members of the senior student squad at the Massachusetts Academy entered next through an entrance on the other side of the room, having had to travel a slightly greater distance from their senior student residence on campus to this main building. Almost on cue, their presence was announced by Tabitha Smith, who was codenamed Boomer and was perhaps the liveliest personality on the senior-squad, as she came in dancing and singing along with her favorite Gwen Stefani track, which was blasting through the headphones of her MP3 player.

_"Uh huh, this my shit_

_All the girls stomp your feet like this _

_A few times I've been around that track_

_So it's not just gonna happen like that_

_'Cause I ain't no hollaback girl_

_I ain't no hollaback gir--"_

"If I may be so bold as to interrupt this sneak-preview of your upcoming appearance on 'American Idol's worst auditions', I would like to take a moment to formally introduce all of you to your new classmates." Emma Frost loudly and harshly said to the assemblage before her, and to Tabitha in particular, as she stood at the top of the very small staircase just inside of the front entrance alongside her new students. Tab instantly got her Headmistress' very unsubtle hint and turned her MP3 player off, then removed her headphones letting them hang down around her neck.

"But Miss Frost, John and Sloan aren't here yet." Angelica perceptively pointed out, in regards to the whereabouts of one of her junior squad teammates, and of the senior squad's deputy leader.

Then, as the senior students had just finished filing into the welcoming area, another and somewhat unexpected voice spoke to Angelica and the rest group.

"Thanks for being worried about me, but I actually got in here first before any of you other guys did." Sloan Beckwith, another fairly recent addition to the school codenamed Scanner smiled, as the girl with long strawberry-blonde hair seemingly materialized from thin air right in front of the group.

"I commend you on your initiative in my absence, by continuing to work on improving the various aspect of your powers, including your ability to convert yourself into your invisible astral form, Sloan. You are becoming better at completely masking your presence, and even my own formidable telepathic abilities were barely able to detect you when I first entered this room." Miss Frost complimented her.

"Well, now that we solved the mystery of what happened to the invisible girl, where the hell's torchy at?" Lance Alvers, the brusque, out-spoken, and earth-quaking mutant known as Avalanche stated, as he expounded on the whereabouts of their deputy leader.

"John will be along momentarily, he is finishing with a special task that I had assigned to him before my departure." Miss Frost replied, as she then went on to at last introduce the new students.

To her left stood Marie-Ange Colbert, a fairly reserved French-born teen with dark-brown hair that had naturally lighter-colored highlights in it. Emma had herself given Marie-Ange the new codename of Tarot because of her mutant ability to channel psionic-energy into the tarot cards that she always had in her possession, which she in turn used to create life-sized, three-dimensional representations of the pictures on those cards that then acted under her mental control.

Over to the Headmistress' right stood Eric, Sven, and Harlan Kleinstock, three imposing brunette figures that towered at more than six feet, six inches tall each. She had collectively codenamed these triplets Merge because of their ability to combine themselves into a single body that stood at over twenty feet tall and that blended their consciousness and the multitude of powers that they individually possessed, but with a lessened degree of control.

"Guys, it looks like we're gonna have to make sure to give the new meat over here a proper Mutant-Prep welcome." Lance ominously remarked to the other students close by, as he pointed towards Marie-Ange and the Kleinstock brothers after Miss Frost had finished her introduction.

"And you'd better watch who you call meat!" Eric, Sven, and Harlan all staunchly replied in unison, displaying the fact that intimidating them would be out of the question.

"And we got 'em in stereo too." Lance jokingly continued, with what he considered to be innocuous teasing of the recently arrived students.

Then John Allerdyce, aka Pyro, finally made his appearance and came in through the rear doorway and walked over to where the rest of the students were standing.

"Sorry I'm late, but I just finished testing out the last of those new training sims you programmed into the Combat Room before you left. They're all ready for both teams' to use in their next workouts." John said to Miss Frost, as he had hurriedly changed from his purple and magenta training uniform and into his regular street-clothes, before rushing up from the sub-levels of the school to join the small assembly.

"It's quite alright. Your intense dedication in aiding me has been noted, and it excuses you for this afternoon's tardiness." Miss Frost responded.

"Yeah, just keep kissin' her frosty ass 'fire-boy', and who knows, you just might thaw it out." Lance silently thought as he smirked to himself, while the Headmistress introduced the senior squad leader to the new students, and then to one more entrant now coming in to join them.

"Marie-Ange, Eric, Sven, Harlan, I would like you all to meet Ms. Adler. She is one of the instructors here at the Massachusetts Academy, and you will be going with her next to begin your orientation. I will send for Gilbert, one of the school's security officers, to gather your things from the car and bring them up to your new rooms." Miss Frost said to the new students, as they went over to Irene Adler, who secretly went by the name of Destiny because of her mutant powers that allowed her to gaze into a myriad of possible futures. Then, Miss Frost removed her glasses and turned her attention towards the woman that was holding a lengthy white cane in her hands.

"Irene, if you need me, I will be in my office. There are a few important phone calls that I need to make."

"I believe that I have everything under control. Now, if you children would follow me." Ms. Adler said to the new students, as they followed the older lady with gray hair and donned a pair of dark sunglasses out of the foyer, turning down one of the lengthy corridors in the building. All the while Miss Frost also exited, and headed in another direction from them towards her private residence on campus.

As the teacher, new students, headmistress, and some of the junior students dispersed to go back to various areas of the school, John and his girlfriend Tabitha were off talking by themselves next to one of the walls in the foyer, when Lance decided to come up and comment on John's showing up late for the assembly.

"What's our crazy little arsonist here been up to, to keep himself so gosh-darn busy today?" Lance sarcastically said to them, in what he had intended as a harmless joke.

But, John was about to make it very clear to Lance that this latest in a long line of verbal jabs had finally managed to push the wrong button with its target, by unknowingly hitting on an extremely sore subject with him.

**WHAM**!

Was the sound heard, as John quickly grabbed Lance and spun him around, slamming his teammate into the wall next to them with such force that it shook nearby hanging paintings and the sturdy oak beams inside of the walled exterior, immediately drawing the undivided attention of those students still in there with them. There was a look of total shock on everyone else's face in the room, including Lance's, at the unexpected and seemingly uncharacteristic reaction by John to one of Lance's usual annoyances.

"**I'm only going to tell you this once, you EVER call me that again and I'll kick the living shit out of you**! Do you hear me?" John shouted, as he held Lance pinned up against the wall with both hands, gripping Lance's denim vest just below the collar. John then pulled him a few inches from the wall, and then slammed Lance back against it once again to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, I hear you loud and clear. Now, you better raise up offa me before you get your ass **SERIOUSLY** crippled!" Lance loudly replied in kind, as he looked John directly in his eyes and spoke in a tone warning him of the fact that he was dead-serious as well, joke misinterpreted or not.

"C'mon John, just calm down and let him go. Lance didn't mean anything by it, he was only clownin' with you, that's all." Tab somewhat worriedly said, as she took a couple of steps over to the two boys and caressingly put her hands on John's arm and shoulder, trying to convince him to let go of Lance before this situation really did explode.

After a few tense seconds, John heeded his girlfriend's request and finally released Lance. Then John, who had never made such an outburst before in front of his classmates, abruptly turned and quickly left the room.

"Why don't you go find yourself a sense of humor and learn how to take a fuckin' joke, Allerdyce?" Lance said, as he straightened his clothes back and John continued on out of the room without responding.

After John had left the foyer, Lance could hear the faint sound of someone else in the room with him laughing, and he knew there was only one person that would find this current set of events the least bit amusing.

"And just what the hell's so funny, rich-boy?" Lance turned and said to Manuel Alfonso de la Rocha, the young man also known as Empath for his emotion-sensing and altering abilities.

"I would think the answer to be obvious, even to you Neanderthal." Manuel snidely replied, as he crossed his arms in front of him and continued lightly chuckling, displaying a smile that was a mile-wide gracing his classic European features.

"Then, why don't cha go ahead and enlighten me, bitch!" Lance vehemently snapped back at Manuel, as he proceeded to ball one of his hands, on which he was wearing black leather gloves with the finger-holes cut out of them, into a fist.

"Your ass gettin' slammed like a punk, is what's so funny." The tall and super-strong Joanna Cargill, who was a recent promotee to the school's senior squad codenamed Frenzy unabashedly clarified for Lance, as she stood next to Manuel and flipped her long corn-rowed hair back behind her shoulder.

While Lance, Manuel, and Joanna continued hurling insults at one another, Jennifer Stavros, the Atlantic-city native who was coincidentally enough codenamed Roulette, left them and came over by Tabitha.

"Tab, maybe you should go check on John or somethin'?" Jennifer suggested of her.

"In a sec, I'm just gonna give him a little time alone to cool off first." Tabitha replied.

"You know, John's normally so laid back. I wonder what made him just flip out like that?" Jen commented, regarding John's reaction to what Lance had said.

"I don't know." Tab responded, although her statement wasn't exactly accurate.

Tabitha had a fairly good idea as to what could have triggered such an infuriation in her boyfriend, thinking back to what John had told her about what happened when his mutant power to pyro-kinetically affect fire first emerged. Tabitha also knew that being called an arsonist would instantly dredge those painful memories back up in John, and was what most likely set him off in such an atypical manner.

"I'll catch up with you later, I think I better go ahead and find him." Tabitha now abruptly said to Jennifer, as she then turned and took off in the direction where John had gone, so that she could go make sure that he really was all right.

Meanwhile with the day's excitement now passed, most of the other students had went ahead and left the foyer. These departures now also included Manuel and Joanna, which left just Lance and Jennifer in the room by themselves. Lance was leaning up against the wall with his head back and eyes closed, the very same wall that John minutes before had properly acquainted him with.

"Um, Lance, are you okay?" Jen came over and genuinely asked him, as she pushed her shoulder-length blonde hair back from in front of her face.

"Yeah, fine." Lance shortly replied, as he opened his eyes to look at her briefly, before deciding to take off too, his pride and ego now feeling as slightly bruised as his body was.

Jennifer trailed behind Lance through the front room and stopped over at the doorway, watching as the gruff young man dressed in a denim vest, t-shirt, and jeans continued on, her light-green eyes remaining trained on him until he had finally disappeared around the corner at the end of the long corridor.

**……………………………………………….**

Story 3- Alternative School Part 6, Like a Flame to the Moth

It had been barely a month since Colonel William Stryker had attacked Professor Xavier's school, kidnapped the Professor along with a few of the students and a teacher, and had attempted to use his copycat version of Cerebro to kill every mutant on the planet.

Having abandoned his former school and left his friends back at Alkali Lake to now follow Magneto, the man that he had firmly sworn his allegiance with but who was perhaps the X-Men's greatest nemesis, John Allerdyce, the teenage mutant known as Pyro, now found himself trying to adjust to these new surroundings and set of circumstances here at the Massachusetts Academy. Still, in spite of some of the exterior differences, John thought that this school in many ways was a lot like Xavier's back down in New York state.

Case in point, as John sat out on the spacious balcony patio located behind the school, which on this sunny and late afternoon gave him a perfect view of the Berkshire Mountains that surrounded the huge campus, one of his new classmates decided to come out and join him.

"Hey, you're one of those new guys." Tabitha Smith said, as she came up to John dressed in a short-sleeved pink tee, which was altered at the bottom just enough to expose her belly-button piercing, and was also wearing a pair of faded jeans.

John looked up from the marble bench that he was sitting on to see the girl standing next to him, instantly noticing her very athletic and curvaceous build. Then, he saw another small stud piercing in her nose, followed by him taking notice of the darker pink nylon cut-offs that she was wearing. The sheer cut-offs covered both of her arms and went from her just below her wrists, all the way up to her shoulders just beneath the short sleeves of her tee. Finally, John looked at her hair, which was slightly curly and a dirty-blonde color, and saw that it had been highlighted with brightly-colored crimson streaks in it. The way she wore her hair was such that it somewhat obscured the front of her face, and partially veiled her eyes, which were as remarkably clear, as they were a deep-blue tint.

"Yeah, I'm one of those." John replied simply to her question about him being new to the school, as he then turned his attention back down to the notebook sitting in his lap and began to write in it again.

"Your name's John, isn't it? I'm Tabitha." Tabitha now asked the young man sitting before her, who she observed was wearing an olive-gold toned short-sleeve shirt that buttoned up in the front and some dark-colored pants. Tabitha was pretty sure that she had heard his name was John, at least from what she could remember from the previous week when the new assistant Headmistress Ms. Darkholme had introduced him and another new guy that had dark-brown hair similar to his.

"Yeah." John simply responded, as he continued jotting down something in the notebook, this time without bothering to look up at her. So, Tabitha decided to go ahead and make herself comfortable on the marble bench right beside him.

"Please, have a seat." John sarcastically and mootly told her, his face still downward.

"Thanks, but I already found one all on my own." Tabitha just as sarcastically responded, as she crossed her legs over and put her elbow on her knee, so that she could rest her face in the palm of her hand while watching him do…whatever it was he was doing.

With that, the conversation reached its first moment of silence, as John continued writing while Tabitha sat and watched him feverishly scribble away on the paper. Then, curiosity finally got the best of her.

"So, what cha writin' about?" Tabitha inquired.

"Stuff." John answered, without any further detail.

"Yeah, that was reeaal helpful. I meant, what kinda stuff?" Tabitha continued with her questioning.

"Personal stuff." John now only slightly elaborated on, as he continued writing and paid her barely any of his attention.

"I guess you're writing about being locked up in juvey then? It's nothing to be ashamed about, kids mess up and get caught doin' stuff all the time. Back home, there was this one girl I knew who got caught--" Tabitha told him, when John finally broke his concentration away from the notebook in his lap, so that he could now fully acknowledge her.

"What makes you think I was in juvenile?" John asked, as he turned his head and his brown eyes now looked over to meet her blue ones.

"Well, I heard you and that other guy got in some trouble, and that Miss Frost got you out of there on some kinda student-release program." Tabitha explained, as she revealed the rumor that had been floating around the Academy since their arrival.

"Then you heard wrong. She might've got Lance out of a cage somewhere, but I just happened to transfer here at the same time." John clarified for her.

"Lance, yeah that was the other guy's name. I remember now, John and Lance, that sounds kinda nice together." Tab remarked to him.

"What, are you tryin' to pick out a china-pattern for us or somethin'?" John smiled and jokingly asked her.

"Nah." Tab replied simply, and then didn't say anything else. Figuring that she was now finished interrogating him, John decided to once again go back to writing.

But, he had figured wrong.

"Where'd you transfer here from?" Tabitha inquired after about a minute of silence, beginning a fresh round of information gathering.

"This girl is nosier than Kitty and Jubilee combined." John thought to himself, before he laid his pen down on his notebook and decided that he might as well go ahead and tell this girl whatever she wanted to know, if he ever planned on getting any peace and quiet.

"Well, I went to a school in New York, another school for mutants like this one. After I got into some trouble, a 'friend' of Miss Frost's and Ms. Darkholme's decided that it'd be good for me to come here for awhile." John said, explaining to her the dubious chain of events that had brought him there, all the while concealing the fact that in reality it was Magneto who had brought him to the school. John and Lance had both been instructed by Raven Darkholme, also known as Mystique, not to reveal Magneto's involvement at the school to any of the other students, at least until Miss Frost had determined which were the ones that she wanted to be given that information.

"What kinda trouble'd you get in?" Tabitha now asked, as she shifted her legs and crossed them in the other direction, resting her face now on her other hand that was closest to John.

"You sure do ask alotta questions." John candidly pointed out to her.

"You got a better way for me to find out stuff, especially since you've been so eager to volunteer and tell me about yourself." Tabitha smirked, as she took the green-tinted sunglasses above her forehead off and sat them in her lap.

"Well, let's just say I got into a major fight." John alluded to.

"You stomp on some kid pretty tragically then?" Tab questioned him.

"It wasn't a kid." John replied.

"Then who, an old lady look at you wrong or somethin'?" Tab humorously continued.

"It was the Boston police. They don't much like mutants, and I decided I didn't much like them either. So, we got into it and I ended up messing a few of them up, along with a couple of their patrol cars too." John revealed.

"For reals? You went buck-wild on the cops! And I thought I was the one who was punk, you don't even look like the type. Must be an undercover thing to fool folks." Tab excitedly remarked after hearing John's revelation.

"Suuurre, whatever you say Avril." John replied with his quasi-slam, as yet another question came to mind for Tabitha.

"I know where your comin' from, though. It doesn't seem like mutants are very popular anywhere these days, especially with folks wanting to pass that Act and stuff." Tabitha commented, referring to the Mutant Registration Act that Congress had been debating fairly seriously over the past few years, most notably with the backing of the formerly anti-mutant Senator Kelly.

"Act or not, I'm ain't gonna let any law say whether I have the right to live or not." John resolutely told her, now displaying for the first time a sense of conviction that Tabitha hadn't been expecting to hear from him.

"Hey, why don't cha check this out." Tabitha told John, as she stood up from the bench and put her green-tinted sunglasses back on. She then held her right hand out in front of her with her palm up, until John saw it begin to start glowing a little. Then, Tabitha put on a demonstration of her mutant power for John, producing a small orb-shaped object in it that looked like an orange marble.

"What the hell is that?" John asked her.

"One of my time-bombs. See, I can make these little bombs, and then set them off and make 'em explode as strong and as loud as I want. That's how I got my nickname of Boom-Boom." Tabitha explained to him.

"Boom-Boom? Um, that's some nickname." John said in a tone that relayed the fact that he thought the nickname was kind of silly.

"Yeah, well I've been thinking of changing it, maybe shortening it or somethin'." Tabitha responded, "So, now you gotta show me yours."

"Your direct, I'll give you that. But, you want me to whip it out right here and now, aren't you worried about one of the other kids walkin' out here?" John whimsically replied to her request.

"**Jesus**! I meant your powers, you perv. I wanna see what you can do." Tabitha told John.

John decided to go ahead and oblige Tabitha, immediately reaching into his pocket and pulling out his silver cigarette lighter that had a red sharks-tooth design on it.

"Um, before you decide to take a drag out here, you should know that Miss Frost has guards and video surveillance cameras all over campus. I mean, Randall probably won't care, but Macon and Kenders'll probably turn you in." Tabitha warned him, "But, if you want, I can show you some tricks to help you out, in case you get one of those monster cravings."

"Just hold on to your panties, Tabby. I'm not gonna smoke out here, I don't even have any cigarettes on me." John told her.

"Then, why do you got a lighter in your pocket?" Tabitha inquired.

"For this." John said, as he smiled and lifted the lighter's lid, flicking its small flame on.

To Tabitha's astonishment, John put his hand next to the lighter and the flame jumped over from it onto his palm, without so much as burning him. John then closed the lid of the lighter, setting it and his notebook on the bench between the two of them. He then concentrated on the flame in his hand, making it do a kind of dance for her all at his mental command. Next, John made the flame seemingly grow in height to nearly one-foot tall, and then he reformed it into the shape of a flower.

"Wow, that's pretty kick ass!" Tabitha exclaimed, as John made a fire rose and let it float in the air right in front of her for a few moments, before allowing it to dissipate into thin air.

"So Johnny, is that what they taught you at this other school for mutants?"

"Not quite, this kinda stuff I pretty much taught myself on my own." John told her.

"What's it like, you know at that other school, anyways?" Tabitha continued asking.

"Xavier's is a lot like this place, just not as big or as posh." John responded.

To which, Tabitha began to giggle loudly.

"What's so funny?" John now inquired of her.

"It's just, you've gotta be the first guy I ever heard use the word 'posh' in a sentence like that." Tabitha answered, as she managed to finally stop tee-heeing long enough to respond.

"C'mon, you probably had doubts about the fact I could even talk in complete sentences, before you came out here. And, it's not my fault I accidentally picked up a fashion magazine or two." John playfully replied, as he thought about the numerous fashion magazines that Jubilee, Kitty, Rogue, and the other girls used to leave scattered around the mansion.

"In that case…" Tab said, as she unexpectedly bent down and grabbed John's notebook that he had been writing in off of the bench, quickly taking a few steps back away from him like a kid playing keep-away, "let's just see what other posh things you've been writing about."

John at first started to get up, so that he could go take the notebook back from her. But, he decided to sit back down, as Tabitha's curiosity about what he had been writing was at last being answered, and the smile on her face lessened considerably. After a few minutes, Tabitha held the notebook back down by her side and walked over to the bench to sit back down next to John.

"Go ahead, out with it already." John now almost ordered Tabitha, as she closed the notebook and laid it in her lap.

"Out with what?" Tab asked him.

"I know you've got some smart-ass comment to make about what you read." John assumed.

"Actually I don't." Tab said, as she now handed the notebook back to him, "Straight up, I think it's beyond decent, brave actually, that you can write poetry and be so real about yourself. Not that many guys, well none of the ones I've ever met before, can critique the way people put on these phony masks to hide their real selves, and to hide their vulnerabilities from the rest of the world." Tabitha said, as she gave him a deep and heartfelt compliment.

"Critique? Where the hell'd you pick up that kinda talk?" John asked her, now turning the tables back on Tabitha by teasing her on her choice of words.

"Maybe the rest of us have accidentally picked up a dictionary once or twice." Tabitha laughed loudly, and now smiled widely as she gazed into his eyes.

"Well, little miss dictionary, now that you know all the dirt on me, how about I hear some on you?" John requested.

"Okay. There's not a whole lot to tell, but I guess I can give you the 411…" Tab said, as she began to tell John about herself, about what her life was like before Emma Frost recruited her for the Massachusetts Academy, and revealed to him the good and the definitely not-so-good things that she had experienced in said life up to this point.

But, that'll have to be a story for another day…

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Next Chapter: Let's spin the wheel of characters, and see who it lands on next…

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A/N: Special thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter-

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked Gambit's quick save and the expansion of characters. I also hope you liked the look at the flipside of things in this chapter with the Massachusetts Academy, 'cause there's alot more where that came from.

**El Varon**- Thanks for the review, and no, I don't think getting hit by him would be that fun at all either. They do, after all, call him Cannonball for a reason…

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked the chapter! As far as Kitty, I'm pretty sure I read in the early comics that she used to hold her breath to consciously activate her powers. I don't know if it had to do with her not having any other kind of conscious trigger for it, or if now she's just gotten so good at holding her breath that no one bothers to mention it anymore, or if her powers have simply mutated further beyond that point where she can breathe and phase at the same time (Possibly when the Marauders nearly killed her in the Morlock Masssacre, if I had to guess). With the Lila question, keep an eye out because you just never know…

**Digital Tempest**- Thanks for the review! And I love to respond to them because I appreciate readers taking the time to tell me what they think, even if it's a simple 'It was great' or 'It kinda sucked' (Although if someone says the latter, I like to know why so that I can make improvements in an area if it's needed).

**Moon Comix**- Well, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope this one gave you an indication about the kind of stories you can expect, possibly even including some school intermingling/clashing. And to be honest, I don't think I could even come up with enough stories only focusing on students training in the Danger Room, unless the Danger Room suddenly went crazy and started trying to kill the students. And, we both know that could never happen…

**Episodic**- Glad you liked last chapter! Anyways, it did get to be more technical than I had actually intended at first, but I thought it was probably best to breakdown the powers of each character since they were all about to jump right into a Danger Room session, and some movie-verse readers may not be too familiar with some of the comic-characters that haven't been introduced on screen yet. I'm also glad you look forward to seeing 'the bad guys', I promise to have more of them in future chapters as well.

**hellion**- I'm glad you think that I'm getting better as this story progresses, sometimes I have my own doubts, though. Anyways, this whole story arc is going to be a little more laid back than A Force Unleashed, but there will still be some moments of action, and as you saw in this chapter, some definite scenes of tension between the characters.


	3. Stories 4, 5, & 6

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

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Story 4- Never Again (Flashback)

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It would go down as perhaps the darkest day in school history. Almost forty-eight hours ago, Colonel William Stryker and his military forces had invaded Xavier's School for the Gifted in Westchester County, New York; which until this night had been regarded as a safe haven by the young mutants who resided there from a world that was increasingly making it clear that they weren't very welcome in it. Now, everyone at the school had at last begun to settle in for the evening, following the nightmarish chain of events that they had endured over the previous day and a half, a harrowing episode that had culminated in tragedy at Stryker's Alkali Lake base located in the Canadian Rockies.

Scott Summers had since gone up to his room this evening, so that could grieve in solitude over the loss of his soul-mate Dr. Jean Grey. It was the most devastating blow that he had been dealt in his life, save the day when his parents shoved him out of their burning and soon-to-crash aircraft, sacrificing their lives to in place of his and his brother's Alex. Meanwhile, Logan had disappeared to parts unknown on the estate to also deal with the pain and confusion that he was feeling, both over the death of Jean and from the startling revelations regarding his past that Colonel Stryker had provided to him.

Inside of the mansion, Kurt Wagner had gone with Dr. Ororo Munroe to the living room, joining most of the other kids in there, as they all prepared to watch a televised replay of the President's speech from earlier that morning. President McKenna soon came on and spoke to the American people and to the people around the world about the assassination attempt on his life, the global phenomenon that had nearly destroyed every sentient mind on the planet, what his ultimate response to both would be, and about the proposed legislation that, if passed, would nationally identify, register, and regulate mutants. The televised statement allowed everyone to get an idea of what the President intended to do with the new opportunity before him, which Professor Xavier had informed the Commander-In-Chief had been presented to both mutants and non-mutants alike in the moments right before McKenna was to make his historic speech.

All the while, Professor Xavier was left with perhaps the most difficult task of all, having to now call Professor John and Elaine Grey and break the news to them of their eldest daughter's untimely passing.

But, as the residents in the living room sat somewhat mesmerized by the televised re-broadcast, Bobby Drake and Rogue slowly got up from the one-person chair that they had been sharing together, with Rogue sitting on his lap. The couple silently gestured to both Peter Rasputin and to Jubilee to come join them. Per a prior agreement earlier in that day, the four students all quietly left the living room in a manner to try and remain as inconspicuous as possible, and not draw the attention of the others. They then disappeared around the corner of the living room's entrance and traveled down a corridor towards the library on the other side of the school, so that they would now be able to talk privately amongst themselves.

"I am SO sick!" Jubilee expressed, which through her congested voice oddly sounded like she was saying "I am THO thhhiick!", as she entered first through the library's huge double doors.

Jubilee was now dressed in a slate-blue sweatshirt and sweatpants, which both had the school's 'X' insignia on it. She was also still feeling the chill that she had encountered north of the border, and Jubilee had gone and wrapped herself up in another fairly heavy blanket that she had gotten after they returned to the school from Alkali Lake.

"I tell ya, if I never see snow again it'll be way too soon." Jubilee said, as she continued on into the library.

"If Ah never have to see Alkali Lake, that'll be just as fine with me too." Rogue responded, as she came into the library next with her gloved hand tightly grasped inside of Bobby's, both of them now wearing new, but still very casual outfits after changing out of the clothes that they had gotten at the Drake residence outside of Boston.

"This whole situation still does not feel real. It is as if our entire world has been turned upside down, all in just this brief amount of time. Until they broke down our front door, it was unthinkable to me that in this country children could be dragged from their beds by armed soldiers in the middle of the night." Peter now told them, as he was the last to come in to the library. He locked the door behind him, officially getting their secret get-together underway.

Peter stood close to the entrance dressed in a white, muscle-style undershirt, denim jeans, and a pair of black boots, which he had grabbed and put on when he and the other students were finally able to come back inside of the mansion. This was following the X-Men's return from Alkali Lake, for which they had stopped and stayed just long enough to bring the students hiding in the nearby forest back to the school, and to also drop off most of the other students on the Blackbird with them. The X-Men then took Kitty, Bobby, and Rogue with them, departing for what the Professor deemed as a very urgent mission in Washington D.C.

At this late hour in the evening, Peter still hadn't bothered to change out of his hastily assembled outfit, since he, Scott, Logan, Kurt, and some of the other students had immediately pitched in with helping to board up the broken windows and doors at the school. They had been damaged during the fighting, shooting, and screaming(courtesy of Siryn) when the soldiers' attacked the school. They used lumber from the school's wood shop, along with their various skills, strengths, and mutant abilities to quickly accomplish the task of patching up the damage, which was a temporary fix at least until they had the chance to properly replace everything.

"I used to think that this place was completely safe, like we could live here without being afraid of all of the anti-mutant crap going on outside. But, that was just living in a fantasy world." Bobby said, as he and Rogue ventured further into the very large library full of both aged and modern books.

Bobby decided to go over and take a seat up on a long wooden countertop, which was where the library books were turned in to be restocked on the shelves. And since they were still holding hands, Rogue was pulled in tow behind Bobby over to the counter area. Rogue then went and stood in front of Bobby, leaning back as he sat up on the counter and he put his arms caressingly around her waist in a snug, romantic embrace.

"You know, everything feels so completely screwed up now. What got into John to make him ditch us like he did, just so he could run off with Magneto of all people?" Rogue commented the group, just as Jubilee suddenly sneezed very loudly.

"I don't understand it either." Bobby added, as he sat on the countertop with his face resting on Rogue's right shoulder, making sure to keep a safe distance from the area around her neck where skin was exposed, "And, then there's Dr. Grey."

"Ah can't begin to imagine what Mr. Summers is goin' through right now. Ah mean, havin' to deal with losing a loved one all of a sudden like that." Rogue remarked, as she turned back slightly to look at Bobby directly behind her.

"Well, I can imagine. Definitely. And it sucks majorly, trust me." Jubilee responded, as she had taken a seat behind a close-by table, wrapped up completely in her new comforter, "I mean, it's just like the day when I found out my parents died. I remember it just like it was yesterday, 'cause I'd been hangin' with my friends and goofin' off all that day. When I finally came home, there were like all these police cars out front. One of the officers came up to me, and he started telling me there had been an accident.

And, then you wanna talk about things not feeling real.

It felt like my whole world was spinnin' around. They kept talkin' about how my Dad was like drivin', like a hundred miles an hour, and how he lost control of our car. Which I knew was TOTAL bullshit. The guy like never sped on the highway, or drove fast, or anything. That's how come we were always getting 'the bird' shot at us by old ladies passin' us over in the slow lane. But you know, the worst part was the fact that I didn't get to see 'em one last time, to you know, say goodbye. All I got was to touch two black caskets at the cemeta…"

But Jubilee paused, as something totally unexpected came over her and her emotional state seemingly shot right into overload. It most likely had to do with the fact that she had undergone such an extreme and traumatic experience within the last forty-eight hours, from the terrifying experience of being drugged and kidnapped from her own bed, to being held prisoner with other students deep down in a dungeon cell at Alkali Lake, then having to run for her life with the others as a wall of water threatened to engulf them all. Then to top it off, all of the students at the school had for most of the day been quietly talking amongst themselves about what had happened to Dr. Grey at Alkali Lake.

The topic of death and people dying was something that Jubilee generally tried to avoid, especially when it came to her parents, and this day she did her best to try and tune out the conversations going on around her regarding it. But, she had watched with her own two eyes, as Dr. Grey disappeared from sight when those forty-foot high waves came crashing down upon her from the ruptured dam at Alkali Lake, and swallowed their teacher in the blink of an eye. This, coupled with the lingering sense of anguish that Jubilee still very much felt over the death of her parents forced her to finally face both the uneasy subject and the pain that she been avoiding dealing with for far too long.

"I mean, God, all I wanted them to know was how much I really loved them…and how much…I…really misse…" Jubilee tried in vain to continue, before it finally happened.

All of the sorrow that Jubilee had been carrying around inside of her, continually burying it layer by layer beneath an external veneer of being the cool and consummate joker, now flowed out of her uncontrollably. Without warning she began to cry loudly, almost hysterically, as the tears that she had vowed to never shed again after the funeral forced their way out. Such melodrama was something that Jubilee had made a point to never, EVER put on display for anyone else to see, and at first it somewhat frightened Rogue, Bobby, and Peter by its sheer spontaneity and intensity.

"Oh Mom, Dad…" Jubilee shakily struggled to get out in a very low whisper, as she wrapped her comforter even more tightly around herself.

"Jube, it's gonna be okay. Ah promise, everything's gonna be okay." Rogue shushed in Jubilee's ear, after she had scrambled over from the counter area where she and Bobby had been standing together in their embrace, quickly coming over to put her arms around her friend.

Rogue knelt down beside Jubilee, supportively hugging her roommate in an attempt to try and console her. But, Jubilee just sat in her chair with her face in the palms of her hands and continued sobbing heavily into them, as the two girls slowly rocked back and forth together.

"**Damn it, I should have never listened to Logan**!" Peter now angrily declared, as he uncharacteristically slammed his fist in frustration against a wall in the library that he had been standing next to. The resulting shudder could be felt throughout the rest of the library, despite the fact that Peter was currently in his unarmored state.

"What're you talking about?" Bobby came over and asked him, while Rogue was so busy trying to calm Jubilee down that neither of the two girls even noticed Peter's outburst.

"I should have stayed and helped to defend the mansion, instead of escaping with the others as Logan had requested of me. Together, we could have stopped this Stryker person, and prevented him from leaving here with those parts from the Professor's Cerebro machine in the first place. Then Dr. Grey would still be here with us." Peter replied, expressing his feelings of failure after learning about what had happened at Alkali Lake, having heard the precise details from some of the students that were there to witness it first-hand.

"Man, you did the right thing by listening to Logan. You're the main reason a lot of those kids down in the living room are still alive and safe now." Bobby told him, as he came over and gave Peter a pat on his broad shoulder.

"Perhaps, but I feel that there was still more that could have been done. Something. **Anything**!" Peter articulated, as a fifth unexpected voice then spoke out to them from within the library.

"Bobby's right, you did do everything you could, and more." Kitty Pryde now added, having seemingly appeared out of nowhere on the far side of the library, revealing that their departure from the living room hadn't gone quite as unnoticed as they had thought. Kitty walked towards them wearing a long-sleeved top that was a light-plum color, darker colored pants, and a pair of white sneakers.

"I don't know what the rest of us kids would've done out there alone if you hadn't been there lookin' out for us, Peter." Kitty further expounded, referring to how the students that had managed to escape from the school through its underground tunnel system had benefited from Peter's knowledge of the outdoors.

It was knowledge that Peter had gained from a childhood spent growing up in the harsh wilderness of Siberia. He had been taught how to treat minor injuries with herbal remedies, how to build a makeshift shelter using tree limbs, branches, and other materials found in nature, and how to start a fire without the use of matches. While his survival skills knowledge managed to help the group hide far enough in the woods to evade the soldiers, it was Peter's ability to keep the other students around him calm during their ordeal that was perhaps his most notable and most valuable asset to them in their situation

"Hi, Kit-Cat." Jubilee now managed to say to Kitty, as she wiped her face with her hand, having finally pulled herself together and calmed down enough to greet her classmate, all while Rogue had gotten up to go find some tissue for Jubilee.

"Sitting in here and beating yourself up isn't going to help. We need to do something constructive, something that'll really make a difference." Bobby now told Peter.

"And what do you suggest then, _Tovarisch_?" Peter curiously inquired, not quite understanding what Bobby was getting at.

"That we go to the Professor, and we tell him that we want to train to become X-Men." Rogue said from inside of a nearby office in the library.

Rogue was referring to the discussion that she, Bobby, and John had been having while they were left alone on the Blackbird at Alkali Lake. It had been a point that the three of them were seemingly in agreement on, that is, before John's very abrupt and startling departure.

"It is a sentiment that I certainly second, Marie." Peter responded to her proposed idea.

"Yeah, it sounds great, but do you think the Prof 's gonna really let his students run around in tight, black leather and play super-hero for him." A teary-eyed Jubilee said, hardly convinced that their Headmaster would ever go for such an idea.

"Ah read in a computer file around here one time that when the Professor put his first group of X-Men together, that Storm and Dr. Grey and Cyclops were around the same age as us. Ah even think back then that they got to take on Magneto all by themselves too." Rogue informed the group, as she now came back from the office in the library with a box of Kleenex for Jubilee.

"Then, I say it's unanimous. When do you think we should go tell the Professor?" Kitty now said to the others in the library.

"We? Um, no offense Kitty, but we're gonna have a hard enough time convincing the Professor that we're old enough, and that we have enough control over our powers to do it. He'll probably think that you're still way too young." Bobby remarked to Kitty.

"**Hey, wait just-one-minute**!I'm just a year or two younger than you guys. Besides, I was old enough and good enough with my powers to sneak into Stryker's headquarters for the Professor and print out those files for him, AND I was good enough to sneak in here without any of you guys noticing me too. So there!" Kitty loudly shot back at the four older students, as she then stuck her tongue out directly at Bobby.

"She does have point. And, with the way that she can so effectively argue her position, we may need her to do so with the Professor on all of our behalf. I vote that we include Kitty." Peter interceded, as he leaned up against a wall close to the library's entrance and smiled, giving Kitty his complete and total support in joining them, which very much surprised and impressed the younger girl from Deerfield.

"Well, with an endorsement like that and considering who it's comin' from, Ah guess we'd better not say no." Rogue now humorously replied and agreed to Peter's request, as Bobby and Jubilee nodded their heads in agreement as well.

"Well, now that's all settled, as soon as the school is back to normal I say we go to the Professor and ask him." Bobby told the group.

"Okay, but we gotta make sure to keep this to ourselves until then. We don't say anything to the other students about what we're plannin' to do." Rogue now instructed them.

"You got it, 'boss-lady'." Jubilee playfully replied, as a smile at last returned to her tear-stained face, which she had been wiping with one of the tissues from the box that Rogue had handed to her.

"If we are finished, I imagine that I should now go and board up the hole that I left in the wall of yours and Theresa's room, before it gets too late." Peter now said, as he stood over in front of Kitty and looked down into the face of the much shorter girl, speaking to her through his still moderately-heavy Russian accent, although he had gotten much better at concealing it most of the time.

"Nah, I say leave it, big guy. Gives me a lot more leverage in getting the Professor to give me my own room down the hall now." Kitty sprightly replied, as Peter saw her look up and flash a smile at him, one that beamed so brightly that he thought it could very well light up the stars in the heavens above.

With that, Colossus, Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, and Jubilee all then started back towards the double doors of the library to exit it, having now set themselves on a path that they hoped would one day allow them to really become X-Men. And perhaps, in their own way, these young people would end up honoring a teacher's memory and her sacrifice through their efforts.

_The Beginning_…

**…………………………………………..**

Story 5- Hot For Teacher

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On an average day late in the spring semester at Xavier's School for the Gifted, time was drawing towards its conclusion for Mr. Summers' Industrial Tech class. It was a class in which he taught the students various vocational skills, such as wood shop and learning how to use CAD software for graphics model design and to draft architectural floor plans. Mr. Summers also taught other varied specialized subjects to those students that showed an interest in learning them, such as sheet-metal welding, small and large engine design, which included their function and how to repair them, and an assortment of other trade skills that could be of benefit to students after they had graduated.

"All right everybody, I want you to finish up reading chapter 17 before next class. Class dismissed." Mr. Summers said to his students, as he stood in front of a projector screen that he had been using to go over a design schematic with them, after he had looked up at the clock on one of the walls in the shop building and noticed that the time had reached mid-day.

Having been adjourned, the students began to gather their things and leave. Theresa Cassidy, Rahne Sinclair, and Danielle Moonstar were the first to exit, heading for the school's cafeteria for lunch. Meanwhile, Peter and Rogue were the next to exit the classroom and go out into the hallway, leaving behind just Jamie Madrox, Roberto Da Costa, J.E. Richter, James Proudstar, and Mr. Summers within.

But, not for very long.

"Hi, guys." Alison Blaire, former pop megastar and now recent addition to the school's teaching staff said to the four boys, as she walked past them into the shop area, just as they were on their way out.

"Whoa, check out Alison!" Jamie said in a loud whisper to the other guys, referring to their teacher as she continued on into the classroom.

While the cornsilk-colored blouse that buttoned up the front and had short tapered sleeves, black skirt that was cut to a knee-high length, and conservative black pumps that Alison had on looked like an ensemble that one might see just about any other grade school teacher attired in, what caught the boys attention was what had accessorized the outfit.

Pure and unadulterated attitude.

As a world-famous performer, the first thing that Alison had learned was how to make an entrance. Having to do so for a constant barrage of press appearances, premieres, and having to night in and night out go out on stage while on tour had helped Alison to master the art of the grand entrance, and she did so now without even having to think about it. And, while just about anything in a skirt could grab and keep the undivided attention of a teenage boy, Alison's strides into the classroom had definitely made Scott look up and take notice as well.

"I knew that your class was about to end, and I thought you might like some lunch-time company." Alison said, as she came over and took a seat next to Scott up on the backside of his desk, facing him directly with her palms firmly planted on the desktop right next to her hips.

"Actually, I was planning on going down to the Danger Room, and working out for a couple of hours." Scott replied, as he sat in his chair and looked up at her through his ruby-quartz glasses.

"Okay, but only after lunch." Alison smiled and replied.

"Sure, okay." Scott finally agreed.

"I would offer to join you in your workout, but after watching Ororo and some of the other X-Men down there, I doubt even this ex-aerobics instructor could keep up with you guys." Alison playfully commented.

"Hold on, do you mean aerobics instructor, as in jumping up and down in a tight leotard in front of a room full of sweaty people? " Scott curiously asked her, as he leaned back in his chair a little.

"Yep, spandex and the whole nine yards." Alison confirmed.

"I guess I can picture that." Scott responded.

"Oh, really? And how do me and my tight leotard look in that risqué mind of yours?" Alison grinned, and teasingly inquired of him.

"Well, um, that's not exactly what I was referring to. I just meant that, um, since you had to stay in shape as a performe--" Scott said, as he sat up and stumbled a little, trying to explain what it was that he had meant.

"It's alright, I know what you meant, 'leader-man'. But, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make you actually squirm a little, especially after you left yourself so wide-open." Alison said, letting Scott off of the hook and calling him by her special nickname for him.

"I suppose I should make sure not to do that again. Leaving myself wide-open, that is." Scott replied.

"Or, maybe you should." Alison giggled, as she sat on his desk with her beautifully-shaped legs crossed over one another, seductively rubbing them slowly up and down just a few feet in front of Scott, while they talked.

"**Oh, come on**! 'Leaving myself wide-open, that is', Summers ain't that funny." Jamie commented, as he, Roberto, James, and Rictor had been silently observing their teachers' from around the corner out in the hallway.

"It was hilarious, if you're the one trying to get with him, that is." Roberto pointed out.

"Summers and Miss Blaire? No way. She's this huge superstar, and she could get any guy she wanted." Rictor told them.

"Look at how she's sitting on his desk, Alison's definitely got the 'hots' for Summers." Jamie expounded, as the brown-haired boy and the rest of the small group continued spying from out in the hallway, "I'm tellin' you, he's gotta be blind if he can't see it."

"With those glasses he has to wear, I wouldn't doubt it." James remarked, referring to Mr. Summers' special red-lensed eyewear that shielded the optic energy that uncontrollably blasted from his eyes, "But, at least Miss Blaire sittin' up there is doin' something for you, Multiple."

"Well Ric, you'd better watch out because it looks like Mr. Summers is about to take your woman." Roberto tauntingly said to Rictor.

"Shut up, _idiota_. Miss Blaire's my music tutor, not my woman. And besides, she's a little too old for me, don't cha think." Rictor said in response.

"She's not that old. And in my book, age doesn't really matter anyways. I know how to treat all of the ladies." Roberto boasted, as he prided himself on being the ultimate Casanova, constantly working on a plethora of romantic pick-up lines, and keeping abreast of the latest fashion trends, such as the off-white, collarless Sean John shirt that he was wearing this day, complete with matching pants and accessorizing shoes that rounded out his ensemble.

"Before I hit it big, there were a ton of odd jobs that I worked just to make ends meet." Alison was saying, as she and Scott had continued on with their conversation, unaware that they were being watched, "To be honest, the only reason I took the job as an aerobics instructor was because all of the instructors there got a free gym membership. The monthly dues at an upscale place like that is more than most people spend on rent and utilities, and there's no way I could've afforded them on my own. So, I would go in and teach three aerobics classes during the day, and in exchange I got to workout whenever I wanted and I got a paycheck on top of that, so I think I made out pretty good. Then, after my last class of the day, I'd come home and grab as much sleep as I could, before heading down to a local place I performed at regularly called the Spearmint Club, sometimes playing grueling sets with the house band until two in the morning. Then, I'd come home, go to bed, and get up the next morning and start all over again."

"With all of that energy, I guess aerobics instructor was a good backup career option for you." Scott remarked to her.

"Yeah, it certainly prepared me for my next career change into the field of education. Am I versatile or what?" Alison mocked herself in response, as she ran her right-hand back through her now shoulder-length reddish-blonde hair, which she had cut from its much longer length just a few weeks ago.

"I guess we'll just have to make 'versatile' your new code-name around here?" Scott joked to Alison, as he stood up from his seat and she slipped down from off of his desk, and the two of them then started towards the door.

"Why not, it can't be any worse than those horrible names people on the outside have been calling me, ever since the rest of the world found out I was a mutant." Alison commented, as she walked alongside Scott, "And maybe it'll get the students' to stop calling me by their current nickname for me around here too."

"And what, exactly, have the students been calling you?" Scott stopped and seriously wanted to know, as he turned to face her.

"Don't worry, I guess it's silly more than anything. Secretly, the kids around here call me Dazzler, even though they think I don't know about it." Alison revealed, with a slight smile.

"Dazzler? Where'd they come up with a name like that?" Scott asked her, as he put his hands in the pockets of his khaki trousers, which he was wearing with his light-blue dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up on them.

"It's something from my past, and it'd take waaayy too long to explain right now. I'll just save it for when we have another one of our pre-lunch conversations." Alison smiled and told Scott, as the pair continued on out of the door, now coming into a hallway that had quickly become empty of any of its students long before the two teachers entered into it.

**…………………………………………..**

Story 6- Alternative School Part 7, Rough Boys

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Standing out on the rear balcony patio on campus at the Massachusetts Academy, John Allerdyce felt a sense of peace and tranquility come over him. He stood there staring out onto the enchanting and majestic Berkshire Mountains that surrounded the school, entranced by its impressive view and watching as the sun made its evening descent into the background of the mountains, whose peaks were still covered at their very tops with the last of winter's snow.

But, it was a solitary quietude not to last much longer, as John soon felt a presence approaching him, coming from the entrance of the adjoining campus building out onto the spacious, marble-tiled patio area. But, even with his back turned to him, John knew full well who had come and sought him out.

"I figured you'd find me sooner or later. You out here for round two to finish what we started earlier, or what?" John inquired, still facing forward out towards the mountain range and the lush, green common areas that was located down below in front of where the terrace stood.

"You're goddamn right! I'm out here to settle this shit once and for all." Lance Alvers replied, as he slowly approached John, and had a bookbag now slung over his shoulder.

As he continued stalking forward, Lance unzipped the bag and reached inside searching for something, something very much in particular.

"Well, let's get this over with. I've been thinking--" John said, as he had turned around to face Lance, and this time hopefully avert another potentially violent confrontation.

Then, John saw Lance suddenly pull out a shiny, metallic object from the bookbag in his hand.

"What're you doing with that out here?" John now asked him.

"You mean to tell me you walk around like such a badass, and I gotta explain it to you? Guess I'll just have to show you then." Lance said, as his index finger then quickly and irrevocably reacted. Then there was a very audible…

**POP**!

…that rang out on the balcony, followed by almost total silence. Then, John spoke out in almost utter disbelief.

"I don't believe you, man." John told him.

"Believe what?" Lance replied with a huge smile.

"You know, Fred ain't an idiot. Sooner or later, he's gonna figure out you're the one rippin' off all his beers." John said, as Lance took the now empty beer can, which he had just popped the top on and downed in a matter of seconds and shoved it back into the bookbag, only to replace it in his hand with another can from inside of the backpack.

"Hell, I doubt it. Besides, isn't the whole point of us bein' in the Brotherhood that we get to make our own rules now? And, I say rule number one is that any beer found in Brotherhood house is community property." Lance replied, referring to the fact that the school's senior squad, which included himself, John, Tabitha, Manuel, Jennifer, and Joanna, were all in fact undercover members of the Brotherhood. They had even gone so far as to dub the senior dormitory building on campus as 'The Brotherhood House', although it was only referred to that just amongst themselves, of course.

"You talk big now, but I'd like to see if you're still that tough when Blob's got you pinned on the ground, sitting his big ass on top of you." John remarked, with a slight smirk.

"Look, you gonna drink one with me, or you gonna sit out here bitchin' and lecturing me all night?" Lance asked, as he pulled another beer from the bag and waved it around for John.

"Actually, I'm surprised you're offering. I had assumed that I'd be the last person you'd want to be around right now." John responded, as he walked across the terrace towards Lance, "Look, I'm sorry about goin' off on you earlier. Tab already came out here and worked me over pretty good for overreacting the way that I--"

"Squash that shit. Just down one of these with me, and I'll know thing're cool between us. That is, unless you're afraid of your old-lady findin' out about you drinkin' with the school's resident bad-boy?" Lance mockingly told him.

"Bad-boy? You're getting' pretty full of yourself, aren't you? Just go ahead and toss one of those cans over here already, dumbass." John smiled, as Lance tossed him one of the beers from his bag and then opened another one for himself, as the two boys went and sat down on one of the exquisitely carved marble benches outside.

"So, what're you doin' out here anyways?" Lance asked, as he took a seat next to John and took a swig of his beer.

"Just out here thinking and watching the sun set." John answered, "Why?"

"Nothin', just wondering, that's all." Lance told him.

"Say, but I really am sorry about earlier." John now tried to apologize again, as he turned towards Lance next to him and also took a drink from the beer in his hand.

"Dude, I told you before screw it, don't worry about it." Lance replied, emphatically stating that the matter was over and done with in his mind, "But, next time you decide to go and pull that psycho-crap, I'm gonna take a bag of full beer cans like this and slap you upside your fat head with it. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." John lightly chuckled in response, as he then turned back towards the mountain-view.

John and Lance sat out there together for a while longer, both of them finishing the contents inside of the bag that Lance had brought with him, and watching as another day slowly came to an end.

**……………………………………….**

Next Chapter: The origins of the mutant known as **Magma**…

**……………………………………….**

A/N: Special thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter-

**Episodic**- Glad you liked the chapter, and that you can find character similarities in your own life. As far as a lack of focus on villains, I noticed the same thing too and that's the main reason why I decided to try and include a bit of how the other side lives, beyond just when they're being the bad guys fighting the good guys. As far as Tabitha, her comic version is more or less the same as her Evo counterpart(At least when she first appeared in her younger days), and the version in this story is kind of a mix of those, plus a little original characterization. So, here's to good writers and to bad writers, we all need some love.

**Independent Fire**- Glad you've gotten hooked on the Alternative School stories, and I hope you liked the latest installment in this chapter, because there's still more to come.

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked last chapter, and that you enjoyed the John/Tab background story, because I have another MAJOR one coming up featuring them. Oh, and the big words say they're hurt by your sentiments. Very, very hurt.

**Chrisflib**- Glad you liked things so far, it's always nice to hear from a new reviewer. As far as Lila, who's to say where she'll end up, maybe she'll surprise you and not join anybody's side, except maybe her own?

**El Varon**- Glad you liked the different interactions. I think it's pretty interesting too, especially since some of these characters have never met under these circumstances, and some just plain have never met at all.

I also want to thank you for your review of A Force to be Reckoned With, and I'm glad you liked the Daredevil cameo, because I've got some other Marvel ones down the line I think you'll enjoy too.

**Doza**- Wow, thanks for the wonderful review and for taking the time to read the stories that I've written so far. I appreciate the compliments, and I hope that you continue to enjoy.

**LucreziaNoin86**- I'm glad to see you're reading some of my other stuff.


	4. Story 7

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**…………………………………………..**

Story 7- Who you callin' Volcano-Girl? (Flashback)

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(A/N: This story takes place during A Force To Be Reckoned With.)

Location: _Nova Roma, Brazil_.

Nestled deep within the Brazilian Andes of South America's Amazon Jungle sits this small, inland nation, hundreds of miles to the west of Rio de Janeiro. Literally translated, Nova Roma means 'New Rome', just as its original founders had intended it to be. Built in the First century B.C. on lands that were controlled by local Incan tribes, this Roman settlement stood as a refuge preserving the ideals of a then-dying republic back home, which was right on the verge of becoming one of the greatest empires the world had ever seen. And despite their vast cultural differences, the Incans and Romans would eventually manage to overcome them to find common ground, together building a new and fairly prototypical civilization that would end up preserving two cultures the world had thought to be lost to the ages.

This very isolated community would stand the test of time; amazingly remaining undiscovered and virtually unchanged for nearly two thousand years. That is, until explorers and anthropologists stumbled upon these remarkable inhabitants, all of them living in an ancient Roman way of life well into the very early twentieth-century. Even then for decades following its discovery, the antiquated society would only be regarded with little more than passing curiosity from a modern world that had long since passed the people of Nova Roma by.

It wasn't until the years following the end of World War II that Nova Roma finally began to pursue a more contemporaneous existence, redeveloping its economic infrastructure by fully utilizing its vast mineral deposits and other abundant natural resources in trade with the rest of the world. Currently, thanks to the efforts in recent decades by the republic's most esteemed Senators, Marcus Domitius Gallio and Lucius Antonius Aquilla, Nova Roma has become a foremost leader in technological innovations, while remaining a richly renowned cultural epicenter worldwide.

But at this moment, however, Amara Julianna Oliviaro Aquilla, daughter to the aforementioned Senator Aquilla, was currently standing in the city square, also commonly referred to as the city's forum, waiting for her best friend Analise to join her this afternoon. Now that classes had concluded for the day, the two teenagers were able to at last hang out together in the city's enormous shopping complex that was located close by in the downtown area of Nova Roma's capital, which would rival and in some cases surpass the malls of most major cities around the world.

While they would be able to shop and catch up on the latest gossip of the day, judging by the petite and chic tan outfit that Amara was wearing, shopping was probably not the driving motive for her excursion this day. Amara's ensemble consisted of a light-weight, long-sleeved top that had three diagonal straps that fastened over her left shoulder and matching pants, which had been created by one of the world's top fashion-designers and was currently only seen in the realm of top fashion magazines.

"So, how was tennis practice today?" Amara asked, as Analise came towards her down one of the fairly wide walkways that led into the open square setting, which was lined on both sides by large trees that had very beautifully-trimmed flowered bushes in between them.

"You could learn for yourself. I still do not understand why you don't join the team, we could always use another player." Analise replied, as she approached her classmate. Looking at her, Amara's slightly curly, brownish-blonde hair, blue eyes and olive-toned skin definitely showed off her mixed European and Native Incan heritages.

"With all of the extra classes that I have to take, I simply do not have the time." Amara replied in her genuinely prim and proper voice.

"Unlike finding the time to spend at the mall today?" Analise smiled, as she had a small bookbag slung over on her left shoulder and pushed her longer and darker brown hair back behind her right ear.

"Actually, I am supposed to be at home right now studying for my Calculus examination later this week. Then again, if my father had his way, all I would ever do is spend my time studying and that would be such a bore." Amara replied.

"I don't believe it! Amara Aquilla, the girl who simply lives to be the ideal pupil and daughter, is actually defying her father's wishes. How utterly wicked!" Analise said with a smirk, in a tone that sounded very similar to how Amara spoke, as the two girls started down a pathway that crossed one of the city's many cobblestone streets and led towards the mall.

"You don't have to get overly excited, a true bad-girl I am not. At least not--" Amara started to say with a smile, before she was forced to pause when an extremely sharp pain struck at the base of her skull.

"Amara, are you okay?" Analise inquired, as she grabbed Amara by the arm, helping her friend to regain her balance and then to sit down on a curb by the cobblestone street, which had specifically been redesigned to be able to accommodate the clean-burning automobiles now owned by the citizens of Nova Roma.

"Yes. I believe that I just need a moment to regain my bearings is all." Amara responded, as she sat on the curb with her eyes closed and rubbed the sides of her temples, in the hopes of alleviating the pressure that she felt continuing to build inside.

"You're having another one of your headaches, aren't you?" Analise said, as she was really more stating than she was actually asking of her friend, as she sat down next to her on the curb dressed in a light-blue skirt outfit of her own.

"I'm afraid so." Amara confirmed, her eyes still closed.

"You've been having them for weeks now, and they only appear to be growing worse. I still think that you should tell your father." Analise suggested, just as she had been doing each time that she had bore witness to Amara's prior acute headaches.

"But, he's so busy with affairs of state, and I detest having to disturb him. Besides, this headache will soon pass." Amara said, as she opened her eyes and turned to face Analise, believing that the spell had now run its course.

"You still need to learn whether it is something seriously wrong that is causing them." Analise warned her.

"I suppose that I could always ask my stepmother to take me to the doctor, although with her work she stays just as busy as my fathe--" Amara started to say just as she and Analise were standing up from the curb, so that they could then continue their journey to the mall.

But, another migraine immediately hit Amara, and unlike the others, this one felt ten times worse than any of her previous ones. It was so bad that it caused Amara to loudly scream out from the pain coursing through what felt like her entire brain, as she fell to her knees in the street writhing in pure agony.

Then IT happened.

"Amara, by the gods, look at you!" Analise exclaimed, after what sounded like a bomb had gone off on the street and had knocked her off of her feet. Analise was then able to stand back up and continued staring at Amara, who was still kneeling down in the street in front of her. But, Analise started to back away from her friend, until she was once again far up on the sidewalk.

"What are you talking about?" Amara just managed to utter, as she knelt in the street and continued trying to regain her composure, barely even hearing Analise's comment.

"**You…you are on fire**!" Analise yelled, as other Nova Roman citizens within earshot also took notice of the girl on fire in the street, and a few of them began to make their way over to try and get a better idea of what was going on.

That is, until the very ground beneath their feet began to sway and tremble. Various parts of the street, the adjacent sidewalk, and nearby landscaping all suddenly and violently cracked open, spewing forth huge clouds of volcanic ash. This was immediately followed by small trickles of lava flowing out of the fissures in the ground, which was a result of the Earth's shifting tectonic plates. The trickles rapidly turned into larger and faster moving streams of molten rock, which began to quickly overtake the area with the flames as they spread throughout the southern half of the city's square. While all of this was happening, Amara had finally managed to open her eyes enough to see what Analise had been talking about, and saw that her stylish outfit had been completely incinerated when her entire body exploded into a miniature inferno.

"**WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?**!" Amara now screamed, more out of fear than actual pain, feeling frightened beyond belief by this shocking set of events. Meanwhile, those bystanders that had been around her were now running for safety, heading away from the numerous volcanic eruptions that continued to spring up in the central forum area of the city.

"That girl, she's causing all of this somehow. She must be some manner of demoness!" One of the observers vocally stated to the other observers.

As the frightened mob continued to hurriedly head further into the downtown area of the capital city away from the volcanic scene, Amara finally stood to her feet and saw the scared and beleaguered looks on their faces at the very sight of this 'fire-monster' standing before them. She also saw the devastation that was being wrought around her, all because of her. Amara was as unsure of what was going on, as she was unsure of how to stop the widespread havoc that she was creating around her.

So, she did the only logical thing that she could think of at the moment.

Amara took off running, running away from everyone and everything else in an attempt to keep from hurting or killing any of them. Even so, she managed to leave a very noticeable and lengthy trail of damaged buildings, ripped open cobblestone streets, destroyed cars, and scorched earth behind in her wake, along with a fairly frightened populace, and a very worried and concerned best friend.

**…………………………………..**

At Xavier's School for the Gifted, its Headmaster Professor Charles Xavier had isolated himself down below in the school's sub-levels. But, he wasn't in the large chamber that housed Cerebro, the device he used to locate mutants worldwide. Cerebro was just now becoming operational again after nearly a year's worth of work, coming in the form of assistance from the mutant machine-smith known as Forge, in which they had to essentially rebuild Cerebro from scratch following Colonel Stryker either stripping or destroying most of its essential core parts.

Instead, Professor Xavier sat in his Ready Room, another area that he had created far below the mansion which served as both a private workroom and as a personal refuge from the rest of the mansion, hidden behind an unmarked door inside one of the auxiliary storage rooms. It was in here that, arguably, the most powerful mind on Earth could sit in silent contemplation, while continually remaining apprised of current events around the world through the global communication feeds displayed on numerous, hi-tech monitors that surrounded him in the room. It was on this early spring morning that one news report on a feed coming in from South America managed to catch his attention.

"Interesting." Professor Xavier said aloud, despite the fact that he was the only person currently in the room, sitting in his motorized wheelchair and dressed in a simple black sweatshirt with a small X-design on the front and dark casual pants.

"Computer, enlarge feed number 27."

"Request processed." An automated voice responded to Professor Xavier, focusing in on the news feed and increasing the volume of that particular broadcast. Then, the small platform where Professor's wheelchair was sitting slowly whirled around into a position that gave him a better view of the news coverage.

As he watched the report talking about unusual seismic and volcanic activity the day before in the small nation of Nova Roma, and also about eyewitness accounts on the ground of a young girl that had apparently set herself on fire before causing all of the devastation, Professor Xavier knew that he had to act and act quickly, as time would most assuredly be of the essence.

**…………………………………………….**

"Gee, I like wonder what the Prof wants with all of us so early in the morning?" Jubilee asked, as she, Kitty, Bobby, Peter, and Rogue had been telepathically summoned from their beds to the Professor's study on the first floor of the mansion, and were currently walking down the corridor towards their destination dressed in pajamas, robes, and other sleepwear.

"Ah'd say he probably wants to congratulate you on finally getting a homework assignment in without needing an extension on it." Rogue teasingly remarked to her roommate, as the group continued on.

"Well, if it's a gold star he wants to give me, I at least hope it's the kind that comes with a gold chain so's I can sport it with my new outfit." Jubilee playfully replied, as the five students had now reached the door to the study, and Peter briefly knocked on it.

"Come in." Professor Xavier instructed each of them through the psi-link he maintained with his students.

When they entered into the study, the students were somewhat surprised to see both Logan and Kurt already inside. Logan was standing by the large window behind the Professor's desk, while Kurt was crouching up in one of the seats as his long blue tail slowly moved from side to side behind him.

"Professor, is everything alright?" Kitty inquired, as she asked the question that was on both hers and her classmates' minds.

"I have a dilemma, of sorts." Professor Xavier started, "I have reason to believe that a young and very powerful mutant has recently manifested her powers in a small South American nation called Nova Roma. If this is the case, given the potentially devastating nature of these newfound abilities, we must get to her as quickly as possible before harm comes to either her or to the general public as a result. But, with Ororo currently gone to her ancestral village in Kenya, and Scott on an extended leave as well, I am very much needed here with the other students. Logan and Kurt have both volunteered to go find and bring back this new mutant, but I don't wish to send them there alone. I was wondering if you, my junior X-Men, feel that you are up to accepting such an assignment as to accompany them down there?"

In the year since the events at Alkali Lake, Professor Xavier had designated Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Jubilee as his junior X-Men squad. He had put these the five of his most experienced students through such an endless and rigorous regiment of physical, academic and even psi-defense training, that it might make one think that Professor X had fancied himself a bit of a Marine drill sergeant, in addition to being an educator.

"Our first real mission? You better believe we're ready!" Rogue excitedly replied, as the deputy leader of the junior squad answered for the rest of her squad mates, while they all nodded and cheered in agreement.

"Glad to hear that, Rogue-darlin'. All o' you kids got an hour to get dressed and get your gear together before the Blackbird takes off." Logan said to the group, as he turned back around from the window to face them, grinning as he placed an unlit cigar that he had pulled from his leather jacket pocket in his mouth.

"I imagine, then that I should go and pack my sunscreen?" Kurt jokingly said to Logan, as he sat perched in his seat wearing an olive-colored dress shirt and tan slacks.

"Whatever floats your boat, Elf. But, from the way Chuck here was describing the powers this kid down there's got, you just might need more than a little sunblock before we're through." Logan replied, as the junior X-Men all left the study in a hurry, so they could go get ready and head down to the underground airplane hangar located beneath the school's basketball court.

Kurt then teleported out of the study, followed by Logan walking out of the room behind the junior squad. In his hand, Logan was carrying with him a folder given to him by the Professor Xavier, which had what little info the Professor had been able to ascertain on the new mutant, and also contained other useful information regarding Nova Roma. Once they were gone, the Professor thought that he would have a little time alone, so that he could prepare himself for his morning English class that was set to soon begin.

But, he would have to think again, as the phone in the study suddenly began to ring.

"Xavier's School for the Gifted, Professor Charles Xavier speaking." Professor Xavier said, as he picked up the receiver of the telephone sitting on his large wooden desk, which he was presently sitting behind.

"Charles, I must say, it's been much too long since I've had the opportunity to hear that verbose phrasing of yuirs." The voice on the other end jestingly said to him.

"Moira, is that you?" Professor Xavier inquired, in a slightly flabbergasted tone.

"Och, who else do ye know with a thick Scots accent that's gonna call ye all the way across the Atlantic, and greet ye on a first name basis t'boot." Dr. Moira MacTaggert replied.

"Well, Great Britain is a sizable country, and I did make my fair share of rounds during my time there." Professor Xavier playfully replied.

"And ye're just as full of yuirself now, as ye were when I first met ye at Oxford all those years ago." Dr. MacTaggert laughed in response.

"And I now realize that it's also been some time since we last spoke to one another, Moira. How have you been?" Professor Xavier now asked his oldest friend.

"Me? I've been doin' just fine, Charley-luv. But, how I'm doin' has little t'do with why I've called ye." Dr. MacTaggert told him.

"Is everything alright?' Professor Xavier continued questioning her, this time in a slightly more serious tone.

"For the moment. But, I need ye t'come t'Muir Island as soon as possible, there's a matter of great personal importance to me that I need t'discuss with ye." Dr. MacTaggert revealed.

Professor Xavier paused and sat contemplatively for a moment, before giving his response to Dr. MacTaggert's request.

"Certainly, I'll be there as soon as some important business here at the school has been attended to." Professor Xavier agreed.

"Thank ye, Charles. Ye have'nae idea how much this means t'me." Dr. MacTaggert replied.

Then, she and Professor Xavier spoke for a few more brief moments before saying their goodbyes, which would only be until they could meet again face-to-face.

After placing her cell phone down on the kitchen-style counter in front of her, Dr. MacTaggert then turned to leave the small break room inside of her Muir Island research facility. She was heading back down to the living quarters within the large complex, so that she could rejoin a red-haired young lady who was sitting and eagerly awaiting her return. The two had become inseparable, ever since Dr. MacTaggert had rescued the pre-teen from an angry mob that had been intent on killing the girl, all because they believed her to have been sent by the Devil himself when her mutant ability to metamorph into the form of a wolf unexpectedly emerged.

In the six months since that fateful night, Rahne Sinclair had become like a daughter to Moira MacTaggert, and Moira had relished every second of stepping in as the girl's new adoptive mother. But, by taking the step to contact Charles, Moira knew that the time was rapidly drawing near when she would have to send Rahne from her side, placing her young ward under the tutelage of her oldest friend in the world, so that he could properly instruct Rahne in the use of the mutant abilities that she had been gifted with. It was a decision that Moira had finally made, but not a choice that had come easily to her.

**………………………………………**

A little more than an hour had passed, and true to Logan's words, the Blackbird was now airborne and heading due south towards the other side of the equator. While Logan and Kurt had changed into their all too-familiar black leather uniforms before lift off, the junior X-Men were donning their dark blue and silver-trimmed uniforms that denoted their current junior status. Kurt had then went and took his place in the Blackbird's cockpit as pilot, with Bobby sitting in as co-pilot next to him.

In the middle of the plane, Peter was sitting in the passenger section busily sketching in a notebook-sized pad that he had brought with him. As he did, Peter had garnered the attention of one very curious onlooker, who was watching him intensely while he worked.

"I still think it's so amazing that you can draw like that." Kitty said simply, as she sat in the seat right next to Peter on the plane, watching him create his rough illustration of a snowy forest meadow.

"It is just unfortunate that this picture is nowhere near living up to your gracious compliments." Peter less then enthusiastically replied, as his artwork wasn't quite turning out the way that he had originally envisioned it.

"I think it's beautiful. Really. Honestly, I do." Kitty encouragingly told him.

"Then to be honest, I do not see how you haven't long since been bored to tears just sitting there and watching me draw this embarrassment to other artists everywhere." Peter commented to her, still looking down at the sketchpad in his lap.

"You know, I think I could probably sit here and watch you ALLLL day." Kitty sighed in a wispy and gushing tone, which she didn't even realize she was doing.

It caused Peter to abruptly look up from his sketchpad and over at Kitty, as she sat with her arm propped up on the armrest between them, her smiling face gently resting against the palm of her leather gloved hand as she gazed in his direction with a giddy, and somewhat pining, expression aimed at him.

Whereas the other students had noticed and would sometimes tease Kitty about her growing schoolgirl crush on the slightly older Peter Rasputin, he seemed to be the last one in on the joke. But, one would have to wonder if it could even be called a crush, especially if the recipient had started to feel much the same way about her? It was a question that both Kitty and Peter would certainly get the opportunity to more deeply explore in the weeks to come, as they could both sense a mutual, almost undeniable, attraction building between them.

Meanwhile in the rear of the plane, Rogue had herself also taken on the role of observer, as she sat on one of the benches back there and watched Jubilee and Logan playing cards close by.

"…so, that's why I spend so much time on the basics of hand-to-hand combat and self-defense skills, because you never know when knowin' those things might come in handy." Logan said, as he was finishing his thoughts on the subject that he, Rogue, and Jubilee had been discussing while he reshuffled the deck.

"Just makin' sure we're the best that we can be then, huh?" Rogue sarcastically replied, as she had spent more time training with Logan than any of the others, learning various martial-arts disciplines and various forms of armed and unarmed combat from him.

"But dude, like why do you even worry about it? You got those claws to protect you from any muggers or carjackers that're stupid enough to run up and try 'n do you some damage." Jubilee posed to Logan, as she put down a card from the current hand she had been dealt.

"And you can light up the sky like a Friday night fireworks show with those sparkle powers of yours, but that didn't keep you from figurin' out how to use a flashlight, did it?" Logan responded, as he threw down a couple of cards and dealt a few more to himself and Jubilee.

"Um, that analogy doesn't hold up. I knew how to use a flashlight waaay before I found out I was a mutant." Jubilee smirked at Logan, as she examined her new hand.

"You know what I meant." Logan replied, as he also looked at the new cards that he had just drawn.

"Analogy? That must be your new word of the week." Rogue now teasingly said to Jubilee.

"Gawd Rogue, like, can you lay off with your whole, _Jubilee MUST be learnin' disabled or somethin'_, routine. Just 'cause I don't spend all my spare time in the library, doesn't make me movie of the week material about illiteracy." Jubilee shot back, "Besides, if I really wanted to, I could go around just like Kitty making up big words that nobody but her and the Professor knows the meaning to."

_"Yeah, you only wish you could."_

Jubilee, Logan, and Rogue heard the remark loudly voiced, as Kitty had happened to hear her name mentioned in their conversation in the back of the plane, and she decided to make sure that her two cents was accounted for. Then, Logan made a declaration of his own.

"That's gin!" Logan exclaimed, announcing yet another victory over Jubilee.

"Sooner or later, your mega-streak is gonna come to an end. And I'm gonna be the one who breaks it, Wolvie!" Jubilee promised him, as she threw her cards down on the makeshift table they had made from a fold out cot, sitting back and folding her arms over in front of her.

"Well, get to dealin' and we'll just have to see, 'Mall-rat'." Logan responded, as he handed her the card deck and she dealt them out this time.

As they were about to begin another game, Rogue suddenly stood up from the nearby bench where she had been sitting.

"Ah'm gonna head up front for a little bit. You got any messages for Bobby or Kurt?" Rogue asked them, but was mainly speaking to Logan.

"Yeah, one." Logan replied, as he looked up at her from the bench where he was sitting.

"And what's that?" Rogue inquired.

"Tell 'em not to crash." Logan remarked, as he winked at her, and then looked back down at the cards in his hand.

"Will do." Rogue smirked, as she turned and continued on towards the front of the Blackbird, while Logan and Jubilee continued to play and talk.

"You know, I noticed how good a job you did on fixin' up Pete's uniform. I was wonderin' if you wouldn't mind doin' the same for me, when you've got some spare time? You know, so it'd be a lot better suited for some serious throwin' down." Logan asked Jubilee, referring to the alterations that she had recently made on Peter's uniform by removing the sleeves and reworking the stitching on it.

"Sure, like, no prob. When I get through, maybe I can even help you with the rest of your wardrobe too. Like, actually gettin' you a wardrobe, 'Mr. Jeans-and-T-shirts all the time'." Jubilee smirked and teasingly replied, as she continued shuffling the deck of cards.

"Just go ahead and deal, will ya." Logan smiled, as he shook his head a little.

Meanwhile after a very brief journey, in which she had passed Kitty still sitting in her silent enamoration of Peter, Rogue was standing directly behind Kurt and Bobby in the cockpit area.

"Kurt, if you wanna take a break, Ah can sit in for you?" Rogue offered.

"_Danke_, your kindness is beyond description." Kurt comically replied, as he looked up at her and immediately teleported from the chair in a cloud of smoke, reappearing near the back of the Blackbird so that he could retrieve one of the bottles of water kept in a pullout cooler bin back there.

"You know, you could've offered to sit in for me instead." Bobby pointed out to Rogue with a slight smile, as he continued observing the instrument panel in front of him, all while Rogue put on her small headset communicator that fit snugly around her ear.

"But, you looked like you were having so much fun there that Ah didn't want to ruin it." Rogue playfully replied, as she sat down in the pilot's chair, "Plus, you just seem like the kinda guy who'd jump at the chance to be my co-pilot."

"And how do you know I'm not the kind of guy wants to be the pilot?" Bobby grinningly inquired.

"Well, Ah just never figured that the guy who got me this would mind takin' orders from a girl." Rogue happily told Bobby, as she took off the dark blue-leather glove covering her right hand and showed off the promise ring that Bobby had surprised her with back on their six-month anniversary "And, Ah also figured he'd jump at every opportunity he could get for a little alone time with me."

"So, are saying that I need to be more of an opportunist then?" Bobby light-heartedly replied, as he reached out to touch the ring that he had given to Rogue.

"Nah, Ah guess Ah'm happy with you just the way you are." Rogue said, as Bobby held and slowly stroked her bare hand inside of his own blue leather-gloved palm for a little while, before they both finally turned their attention back to monitoring the Blackbird's flight controls.

**………………………………..**

In what seemed to be almost no time, Bobby and Rogue looked at the Global Positioning Satellite data on display before them on the Blackbird's console, and saw that they were approaching the coordinates of their final destination in Nova Roma.

"So, this is Nova Roma? Not much to look at if ya ask me." Jubilee commented, after she, Logan, and Kurt had come up to passenger and cockpit sections of the plane when Rogue yelled back that they were almost there.

"We're not quite there yet." Logan told her, as they looked out onto the dense rainforests of the Amazon down below, "We're just now entering the Maderia, the general region where Nova Roma is located."

"It looks like we've got a problem." Bobby now said from the co-pilot's chair, "If we continue on our current course, we're gonna fly right into those mountains up ahead."

"Not everything is as it appears." Kurt now told Bobby, as he came up and stood behind him and Rogue in the cockpit, reaching in as he began to cue up topographic information for them on the console, "According to the Professor, Nova Roma actually sits hidden in between those mountains' valleys, and is concealed by a perpetual cloud-mist that surrounds the mountains' tops high above that creates a visual barrier around it on all sides.

"Well, I hope we get there soon. I can't wait to see my first spontaneous Toga-party break out!" Jubilee excitedly commented, as she now sat down in a seat in the front row of the passenger's section.

"Jubilee, it's not like we're going there so we can remake some old party movie." Kitty now said, as she joined in on the conversation from a couple of rows behind Jubilee.

"Yeah, you kids got all of college to look forward to for that." Logan sardonically remarked to the group, "Right now we got a job to do, so I hope all 'o you are ready."

"Man, what a coupl'a buzz-killers." Jubilee responded in a low voice, referring to both Kitty and Logan.

As the Blackbird continued on into the cloudy barrier surrounding this section of Brazil's Andes Mountains, the X-Men were soon through it and on the other side. Below, they beheld a sight that looked as though it had been taken straight of a history book, as they laid eyes on the magnificence of Nova Roma.

"Wow, it looks just like that movie we watched that time about Julius Caesar." Rogue was the first to comment, referring to how the capital city looked, which was surrounded on its perimeter by a huge jungle forest area that was dotted with small native villages.

"And from the way it looks, it was probably built around that time too." Kitty added, as she was leaning over, and up against Peter, to look out of the window next to him. Which he didn't seem to mind, though.

"Set a new course, vector west. I'll tell you when to start braking speed." Logan said to Rogue and Bobby, as he had come and stood next to Kurt behind them.

"Radar's still clear, no one's spotted us yet." Bobby informed the rest of the X-Men, as the Blackbird proceeded into Nova Roman airspace.

"Alright, head over there and just kick in the verticals." Logan instructed the pilots a few minutes later, as the Blackbird flew over to an area towards the center of the capital city and began to hover by use of the plane's vertical thrusters high above, which was where Xavier had said the mutant in question had reportedly first appeared.

"I believe it is safe to say that this damage was most likely caused by the mutant that we are looking for." Kurt commented, as they could see that the city square looked as though a huge fire had swept through it.

"Should Ah find a spot for us to set down?" Rogue now inquired, as she used the Blackbird's surveillance capabilities to search for an open area to land.

"What, and try 'n explain to the local law enforcement what we're doin' here. I don't think so. No, we're gonna follow that flame-charred path that's headin' outta the city." Logan responded, to which the Blackbird began to aerially follow the path of Amara's exit out of Nova Roma's capital, in the hopes of quickly finding her.

As the Blackbird flew further into the surrounding jungle, it became apparent that things would not fall into place as easily as they might've thought, especially when the trail that they were following slowly began to fade until it disappeared into the overgrown environment.

"It looks as though our trail has now grown cold, Dr. Watson." Kurt light-heartedly said, as he looked over at Logan.

"Then all that means is we get out, and see where the fire's got to." Logan replied, as he instructed Bobby and Rogue to land close by in a small clearing in the rainforest.

In a matter of minutes, the ramp to the Blackbird was lowering and the X-Men were disembarking, preparing to continue their search on foot.

"Okay, where we should start?" Shadowcat asked, as the X-Men all gathered around the bottom of the ramp.

"Over there." Wolverine replied, pointing over towards one part of the jungle's thicket where the ground still maintained a slightly scorched appearance.

Nightcrawler, Rogue, Jubilee, Colossus, Iceman and Shadowcat all followed behind Wolverine, as he used his claws to cut through the underbrush and his heightened senses to track the scent of burnt flora and of the young mutant that they were in search of. In addition, Colossus was now armored up and aiding Wolverine in clearing a path through the dense jungle for the X-Men.

After about a half-hour trek into this wilderness environment, the X-Men had unquestionably found who they were looking for. Now, as they finally made their way out to the other side of the concentrated foliage in a small clearing, they were left with the task of figuring out how what they were going to do now?

"So, you got anything else to help us out in that bottomless bag of tricks of yours?" Jubilee turned to her side and asked Wolverine, as the X-Men saw a very frightened young girl in front of them who was, literally, on fire. She was kneeling face down with her arms wrapped around herself on a small circular landmass that was in the middle of a large lava pool, which the X-Men were standing by the edge of.

"I can't speak for Logan, but I've got a few tricks of my own." Iceman said, as he proceeded to ice up his entire body with his mutant ability.

Iceman then went to work on using his frosty abilities to try and put out the swirling pools of molten rock surrounding the girl on her artificial island, and also extinguish the numerous volcanic eruptions that were producing the lava streams feeding the pools around her. But, Iceman soon learned that it would be far easier said than done, as he had stopped the magma flow by freezing a good number of the lava pools feeding into the main one surrounding Amara, but realized that he was only going to have very limited success with that particular method.

"It seems like the more lava I freeze, the more comes up out of the ground to replace it and cover up what I've just solidified." Iceman told the others, as he ceased the sub-zero ice-blasts that he had been shooting from out of his hands.

"Ah think we to rethink our strategy." Rogue now said to the group.

"What ya got in mind darlin'?" Wolverine asked Rogue.

"Goin' straight to the source to stop this." Rogue replied, "If Ah can get close enough to touch her, Ah'm sure Ah still have enough residual memories of how John's powers worked to let me cool things off here."

"But, how do you intend to get over there?" Colossus asked Rogue.

"Don't worry, 'Nightcrawler Travel Lines' is here, and at your service." Nightcrawler suggested, as he grinned and bowed slightly in front of Rogue.

"And if I aim a freeze blast directly at that girl, I think I can buy you enough time to absorb her powers." Iceman added.

"Well, quit standin' around jawin' and get to it." Wolverine now said to them, as Iceman immediately shot an arctic energy blast in the girl's direction. His powers began to have the desired effect, as the sudden drop in temperature quelled Amara's spontaneous combustion and she shifted back from her fire-form into her human state.

"Alright, it's your turn." Shadowcat said to Nightcrawler and Rogue, as they embraced each other closely and disappeared in a black cloud of sulfur-tinged smoke.

When Rogue and Nightcrawler reappeared on the miniature island, the young mutant that had caused all of this bedlam didn't even notice their arrival. Amara was in a deep, catatonic state, sitting down with her knees pulled in to her chest, curling herself up into a tight ball as she stared off into space.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright. Ah'm just gonna take over for a little bit. You might feel a little discomfort, but it'll pass, trust me." Rogue said in an attempt to assure the girl, as she slowly took a few steps towards her on the island. But, Amara was so far out of it that she didn't even notice, nor bothered to look up and acknowledge Rogue's presence.

Rogue then proceeded, although it was apprehensively at first, to remove her blue leather-glove. She then touched Amara on her shoulder, who was currently in a state of undress after having burnt off her designer clothes the day before. Immediately, Rogue could feel that familiar tug, the rush of memories flooding her mind coming from a life that she hadn't lived; seeing hopes, dreams, and fears that weren't hers. As happened each time that she had absorbed another person, Rogue felt a tinge of uneasiness at being privy to the deepest, most private parts of another person's mind and soul. After a few brief moments, Rogue could finally start to feel the surge of power flow through her, as Amara's powers were being transferred and drawn into her.

"Kurt, Ah think you'd better grab Amara here and teleport her offa this disc, Ah'm about to go to work." Rogue told Nightcrawler, to which he picked up the unconscious young girl, carefully cradling her in his arms before teleporting the both of them back to where the other X-Men were.

Once they had gone, Rogue put to use the knowledge that she had retained from Pyro about pyro-kinetic fields and how to control them. Her own body began to illuminate, glowing radiantly as flames began emanating from it. But, unlike what had happened when Amara first used her mutant powers, Rogue was able to keep these powers from exploding into a devastating display and she managed to create an tight, invisible field around herself that prevented her uniform from being incinerated by the flames that she was throwing off. Rogue then set about to the task of quelling the various magma pools that were flowing into the lava lake surrounding her on the mini-island, and began to cool off the rest of the area in their immediate vicinity. Within a few minutes, she was finished and it seemed to be just in time, as the powers that she had borrowed from Amara were starting to fade.

"Not terribly bad, if I do say so myself." Rogue said to the others, as she walked across the now cooled and solidified lava lake.

To which, Jubilee greeted her with a tremendous burst of laughter.

"And just what may I ask is so funny?" Rogue inquired of her roommate.

"It's…it's just the way you're talkin' right now. You sound like an actor from one of those TV shows from overseas or somethin'." Jubilee said in between her snickering, referring to the fact that Rogue was for the moment stuck with Amara's noticeably different and more refined accent when she talked.

"You will have more than enough time to continue your conversation later. I think that right now we should hurry and get Amara back to the Blackbird." Kurt now told Rogue, Jubilee, and the rest of the group, as he turned and teleported ahead of the group back to the Blackbird with a still unconscious Amara in his arms, while the rest of the X-Men began their lengthy walk back through the rainforest to the plane.

**…………………………………….**

"Do you think that I am going to be in big trouble now?" A just awoken and now fully cognizant Amara asked, as she sat in the back of the Blackbird and had a blanket from one of the emergency packs wrapped around her.

"In trouble for what?" Rogue responded, as she had left when Amara had first begun to stir on the pullout cot that Kurt had first placed her on, and was now on her way back to the rear of the plane.

"For what I did back in the city square." Amara elaborated, as she looked up from the edge of the metal cot where she had now sat up.

"With that major redecoratin' job you left behind kid, prob'ly." Logan sarcastically said to her, as he stood close by in the rear of the plane.

Logan continued puffing on the cigar that he had lit once they had gotten back to the Blackbird. They were still parked in the rainforest area surrounding Nova Roma's capital city, as they had been waiting for Amara to recover and wake up from the after-effects that Rogue's power-drain had on her.

"Oh." Amara softly replied, as her head dropped a little and she looked down at the Blackbird's metallic floor, remembering the tremendous damage that her mutant powers had caused.

"**Logan, stop it**! You're gonna make her feel worse than she already does, and about somethin' she had absolutely no control over." Rogue scolded him, as she then came over to Amara and handed her a small bundle, "Here Amara, these're some extra clothes for you to put on, since I guess you got a little too hot for your other ones. There's a small change room over there, just pull those two tall bins out the rest of the way to give yourself a little privacy."

"Okay. Um, thanks." Amara replied, as she stood up with a blue-gray blanket still wrapped around her. She took the yellow t-shirt, blue X-windbreaker and blue pants in her hand and started over to the side-area on the Blackbird, but then stopped to ask Rogue something else.

"What is going to happen to me now?" Amara wondered aloud.

"Well, after you get changed, we're going to take you back home and talk with your family about your new mutant abilities. We'll explain to them everything that we just told you about Professor Xavier's school, and see if they'll let us take you back there so you can learn how to better control your powers." Rogue told her.

"I'm just so afraid of what my father is going to think, when I tell him that I am…I'm a mutant." Amara revealed, as she closed her eyes and paused for a moment.

"Everything's gonna be fine, Amara. Ah promise." Rogue said, trying to calm Amara's current anxieties. But, Rogue knew full well what it meant to have to tell your parents,

"_Mom. Dad. I think I'm a mutant…"_

Rogue recalled what that moment felt like from her own personal experience. But, when she happened to look up to the front of the plane where Bobby was sitting, Rogue also remembered quite vividly the nightmare that had unfolded outside of Boston, when Bobby finally revealed the truth about his mutant powers to his parents and brother.

Rogue now understood that the reaction you get is one that you can never truly predict with one-hundred percent accuracy. Nor one that you can ever prepare yourself for, especially if the people that you call family and love with all of your being are simply unwilling, or just plain unable, to accept who it is and what it is that you really are. As she watched Amara go over into the small change area, Rogue hoped against hope that this time the young Nova Roman would be the one of them to catch that elusive lucky break.

In what gave Amara just enough time to get decent, and for everyone else to change out of their X-Men uniforms and into their 'civvies' (as Logan liked to refer to them), they were then getting strapped into their seats and the Blackbird was lifting off from their tropical landing pad, heading towards Nova Roma's capital city. Rogue had gleamed enough information from Amara during their absorption exchange to know Amara's full name, and also who her powerful and well-known father was. So, a course was set for the Aquilla estate-compound, located on the outer-edge of the capital city.

**…………………………………..**

"My word, what in the name of Jupiter is that?" One of the additional _Centurio protectores_ that had been dispatched from Nova Roma's _Praetorium_ said, as he and his fellow cohorts saw a strange aircraft descending upon them, coming straight down from the sky.

The Centurions had been charged with maintaining the country's security as its main armed military and civil defense force. But, a select few also served in a special capacity as security guards for the nation's Senators, and for the individuals who worked in the other upper-levels of its government. This particular detachment had been recently assigned with the task of protecting First Senator Lucius Aquilla, just as detachments had been stationed at all of the other Senator's homes following the shocking attack that had occurred in the city square the day before, and would remain until they could determine the implications of what had happened.

They watched as the large, black craft, which they now recognized as being a military airplane, continued on its downward track. The Blackbird landed right on a grassy section of the well-landscaped and attended to grounds of the enormous, classical-styled Roman villa owned by Senator Aquilla, which was located in an outer suburban section of Nova Roma's capital city. And, having drawn the obvious attention of the security force on the estate, the half-dozen Centurions assigned there came out and surrounded the plane, with their handguns and larger weapons drawn.

Despite their official title, these modern-day Centurions were actually dressed in regular clothes, wearing dark-colored business suits and sunglasses, a look that apparently had taken a cue from their Secret Service counterparts in the United States. The Centurions usually only wore their more traditional silver armor, helmets with decorative plumes at the top, cape, leg guards, battle sword and other accessorizing décor when they were standing guard outside of the Senate building when convened in session, for important official ceremonies, or for other very special occasions in Nova Roma.

But, the Centurions quickly re-holstered the weapons that they had drawn upon the sight of seeing the Senator's only daughter, Amara Aquilla, appearing at the top of the ramp that was lowering itself down from the Blackbird.

"Lady Amara, what set of circumstances dictated your disappearance amidst the chaos of that mutant's terrorist attack on the city's square yesterday, and then your miraculous return to us in this manner of transport?" Mercurius, the head Centurion also known as the _Centurio ordinatus_ on her father's detail inquired, as he came to take Amara by the hand and guide her down the last remaining steps of the Blackbird's ramp.

"It is a long story, and one that I would rather first discuss with my father as soon as possible." Amara told Mercurius, as she at last made it down off of the ramp, with the X-Men soon coming down behind her now dressed in their more casual clothing, "These most compassionate individuals aboard this vessel are to be commended for the aid in which they bestowed upon me, in perhaps my greatest hour of need."

"Yes, of course." Mercurius replied, and with a simple hand gesture he ordered the other Centurions to return to their posts along the protective, fortifying wall that encircled and enclosed the villa. Meanwhile, Amara and the X-Men proceeded through the villa's inner-court and colonnade passageway onward into the main house, which actually looked more like a small palace.

"Nice digs you got here, Amara." Jubilee commented, as they walked down an expansive corridor within her home, which was lined with valuable antique furniture, vases, statues and busts, and other highly decorative items, while her home also possessed all of today's modern conveniences.

"Jubilee, that is impolite." Peter bent down slightly and said to Jubilee in a low voice, as they walked along.

"Hey, it's not like I was raggin' on the place or anything. That guy on 'The Apprentice' could only hope to do half as good." Jubilee replied, as the group continued on and soon reached one of the main rooms in the house.

Instantly, a feeling of complete relief came over the lone individual in the living room at the sight of his only daughter standing in its entranceway. Especially, since he had spent the last twenty-four hours pacing around his home, fearing the worst regarding his daughter's sudden disappearance during yesterday's melee in the city.

Senator Lucius Aquilla was a stocky, heavy-set man in his forties with fair skin and balding brown hair. Currently, he was dressed in an expensive, tailor-made navy-blue business suit. Senator Aquilla was someone, who upon first sight definitely emitted a presence about himself, and did so without even having to utter a word. It was an attribute that had turned out to be a valuable asset in his life, especially when he was conducting business on the floor of the Nova Roman Senate.

"Amara, the gods have certainly shown their favor this day, and brought you back to me." Senator Aquilla said in Latin, as Amara ran down the few steps by the entranceway into the living room, hurrying over to embrace her father.

"And I am glad to be back. I've missed you so, father." Amara ardently told him in English, as the two linguistically fluent Nova Romans continued hugging one another tightly.

"And I see that you have brought some company along." Senator Aquilla said, as he now took notice of the other people that had accompanied his daughter, most notably the figure cloaked beneath a dark-brown robe with the group.

Before leaving the Blackbird, Kurt thought that it would probably be a good idea for him to try and disguise his appearance, so as to not upset the local populace that might be on edge at the sight of another very noticeable mutant. The monk-style, long robe that Kurt was wearing had also drawn a couple of very light-hearted comments from Kitty, most notably about him 'having his whole Jedi-look down', to which Kurt happily replied that he was glad to have made her day.

"They are friends of mine, father. They came all of the way down here from the States, just to find and rescue me." Amara told him.

"Rescue you? From what? Amara, tell me what exactly is going on here." Senator Aquilla anxiously requested of his daughter, which caused Amara to pause and take in a deep breath.

Then…

"Father, there is something that I need to talk to you about. It has to do with the mutant, the one that created all of the damage and pandemonium downtown yesterday, and I believe that you may want to sit down before I begin..." Amara said, as she then initiated what might have been the most difficult conversation of her life.

As Amara and her father talked, the X-Men silently watched them and unintentionally gauged Senator Aquilla's reaction to the news from his daughter that she was indeed that very mutant everyone was on guard about. Amara told her Dad everything, starting from the beginning with the headaches that she had started having a few months before now, and how they had progressively grown worse. Amara also revealed to her Dad how scared and freaked out she was when her powers first burgeoned forth on that city street, and how she didn't mean to cause all of that damage on purpose.

Amara next told him about her flight into the outlying jungle areas, in an attempt to keep from hurting anyone else with these powers that she hadn't asked to be given, and that seemed to work with less than a thought. She then told him how these wonderful people behind her had come to her rescue. Finally, Amara wanted to know from her Dad if he hated her for what she had done, and if he was embarrassed or ashamed of having a mutant for a daughter?

"Amara…" Senator Aquilla started, as he stood up from the chair in which he had been sitting in, while giving his daughter the chance to get out everything that she felt that she needed to say to him, "I could never hate you. You are my first and only daughter, and I love you regardless of these new abilities that you have exhibited."

Upon hearing his words of acceptance, Amara's eyes swelled with tears and she ran over to once again hug her father. The dread that Amara had been harboring about how he would feel about her and look at her, once he knew the truth, had at last been relieved.

As Bobby Drake watched Amara's Dad dote on his baby girl, kissing her on her forehead and continuing his supportive embrace, Bobby wished with all of his being that things could have turned out in a similar fashion with his family, that they could've accepted who he was just as easily. Inside, Bobby hoped that Amara truly realized just how lucky she was to have such an understanding parent.

Just then, another door that led to a side-room from the living room opened, and in came a woman that instantaneously grabbed everyone's attention. If the gods really did walk the Earth, as the Roman's had believed, then this woman entering looked as though she could most definitely qualify as a goddess with her long, flowing jet-black hair, a ravishingly beautiful face, and a figure to die for.

"Amara, Mercurius just informed me of your safe arrival. We've been so worried about you, when did you return?" The woman asked her, as she stepped into the room dressed in a conservative white blouse, knee-length black skirt, and high-heeled pumps, walking over to stand next to Senator Aquilla.

"Just a few minutes ago." Amara replied, as she turned to the group standing right behind her, "I'd like you to meet my new friends from the United States, they are the ones who brought me home. They come from a special school there created to help mutants. They say that I am a mutant too, and that's why I've been having all of those headaches, because of my emerging new powers."

"Mutants…ALL of you?" The woman quietly muttered, the shocked expression on her face making her look almost as if she had seen a ghost.

"I am so sorry, I have yet to properly introduce you to this other important person in my life." Amara said, as she turned to speak to the group from the U.S. standing and sitting down right behind her, then turning back to extend an open hand out towards the woman right beside her father,

"This is my wonderful step-mother, Selene Aquilla."

"And in addition to being my beautiful wife, also my most trusted advisor." Senator Aquilla said, as he put his arm around Selene's waist and kissed her on the side of her beautiful cheek.

"Mine is only to serve and be dutiful to you, my husband." Selene smiled and said in response, as she wrapped both of her arms around one of his, proceeding to kiss his hand as her cloudy, hazel eyes gazed almost hypnotically into his.

Then, Rogue decided to step up and discuss the other reason that she and the others had traveled to Nova Roma from Westchester County. Rogue told Amara's father and step-mother about the school run by Professor Charles Xavier, and how the Professor had helped each of them to live with the difficulties caused by their various mutations. As an added visual, Kurt finally revealed his…distinctive characteristics from underneath his hooded robe, in order to help drive home Rogue's point.

"Amara, how do you feel about going to this school? The United States is very far away from your home, your family, and your friends." Senator Aquilla now asked his daughter, after Rogue had finished telling him about the school.

"I want to go, father. I don't wish to spend the rest of my days living in fear of these powers. I want to master them, and not allow them to rule me." Amara eagerly responded.

"It seems like a wonderful opportunity for her to learn how to control these…mutant powers, so that she won't be a danger to herself or to others. It is also an excellent chance for her to be exposed to another culture by being completely immersed in it." Selene encouragingly told her husband.

But, deep inside Selene had also considered the ramifications of what would happen were it to become public knowledge that one of Nova Roma's top Senators, who also served in a capacity similar to its Head of State, had a mutant for a daughter. By sending Amara away, Selene hoped to quell any potential political fallout that could hurt her husband's career, and also for other, more 'personal' reasons of convenience to her.

"Very well, Amara go and begin gathering your things, I will send for the servants to help you and to have a car arranged to take you and your new friends to the airport." Senator Aquilla told her.

"Um, we won't be needing a car, except to take us across that football field you call a front yard. Our plane is parked out by your sidewalk." Jubilee now chimed in, as she leaned back with her hands up behind her head, sitting in a large chair in the room.

**………………………………….**

It took Amara and the numerous servants that worked at the estate less than an hour to gather her things together, with Colossus amazing them all as he used his armored strength to easily take the numerous items out by himself and load them onto the Blackbird.

"You 'bout ready, kid?" Logan asked Amara, as he stood at the bottom of the Blackbird's ramp, while Amara and her parents had come out to the Blackbird with her.

"Yes, I believe so." Amara said, as she then turned to say her goodbyes to Senator Aquilla and Selene, "I am going to miss you both so very much."

"As will we." Senator Aquilla replied, as he and Selene embraced Amara in a family hug. Then, Amara turned to quickly head up the steps to board the plane, before her emotions got the better of her.

"We'll have her call you as soon as we get back to the school and get her settled in." Logan promised Amara's father and stepmother, before turning to go up and join everyone else who was already aboard and ready for lift-off.

"Thank you." Senator Aquilla said in response to Logan's recognition of how difficult this was for him and his daughter, before commenting on something else that he had found very interesting, "But, I must say that this is quite an unusual aircraft, especially for a school to be using for travel."

"Yeah, ain't it a hoot what they'll let ya charter these days." Logan sarcastically replied with a huge smile, as he turned back and continued up the steps, with the ramp soon being drawn closed behind him.

Amara sat and looked out of one of the window seats on the plane, watching as the two people that she cared most about in the world quickly became two smaller and smaller dots on the ground, until they were indiscernible from their surroundings. As the Blackbird was fast on its way back home, Rogue could tell that Amara looked a little down, and decided to take a break from her piloting duties to come back and cheer her up.

"Ah think you're gonna really like it in Westchester with us." Rogue said, as she had turned on the auto-pilot on her side of the cockpit before coming to sit down next to Amara. She had left Bobby to watch everything up front, and Kurt was sitting in the front passenger row writing a letter, still close enough to give Bobby a hand if he needed it.

"I hope so." Amara replied, as she honestly wanted that to be the case.

"And Professor Xavier is the best, he's like one of those guys you--" Rogue was about to tell Amara, when they heard a ruckus behind them with Kitty shouting and walking towards the back of the plane, which was where Logan and Jubilee were.

"**WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY**!" Kitty very loudly yelled, as she continued towards the back of the plane looking directly at Logan.

"I say alotta things, kid. You're gonna have to be a little more specific." Logan replied, as he had a few cards in his hand from the game that he and Jubilee were currently playing.

"I'm talkin' about that chauvinist word you just used." Kitty replied, as she continued storming to the back, having gotten the attention of everyone else on the plane, "You shouldn't refer to women as 'broads', that's an extremely demeaning term and I never thought you were like that."

"Uh-oh, here she goes again." Jubilee sighed to herself, having had experienced one of Kitty's diatribes on the subject before.

"I think you're lookin' for somethin' that ain't there." Logan told Kitty with a dumbfounded expression, as he and Jubilee had been talking some more about the subject of self-defense, with Logan using Mystique and Deathstrike as examples of two tough women (broads as Logan had worded it) who definitely gave him a run for his money when it came to fighting.

"Hell, I could've always used words that were A LOT more colorful than that to describe Mystique and Deathstrike." Logan continued, "Besides, if I'm this big chauvinist you seem to think I am, then I wouldn't be lettin' Rogue fly the Blackbird. And I sure as hell'd have a REAL big problem with takin' orders from Storm, who also happens to be a woman if ya hadn't noticed."

"But, you do have a problem takin' orders from Storm." Kitty pointed out to him.

"Yeah, but it's got nothin' to do with her bein' a woman. It's just the idea of authority in general I gotta problem with, whether it's comin' from her, or from the 'boy-scout'." Logan smirked, "Fact is, I got a lot of respect for women."

"Still, you shouldn't use a word like that." Kitty continued saying to Logan.

"I see your point, but you gotta see mine. In my day, I guess it had a different meaning than it might now." Logan explained, "But, if it bothers you that much, then I promise not to use it anymore."

"Really?" Kitty asked him, surprised that despite his rough and tumble exterior, Logan would actually make it a point to be sensitive and respectful to her personal feelings.

"Really." Logan nodded slightly, as he now laid a few cards on the makeshift table that he and Jubilee were playing on.

"Well, then…okay. Thank you." Kitty said to Logan, as she didn't think there was anything left to say between them, and she turned to make her way back to the passenger section of the plane.

"You're welcome. And by the way, if you wanna go give Drake a hand flying this heap, then this 'reformed chauvinist' won't have a problem with it. That is, if you don't, 'Short-stuff'." Logan called out to Kitty, his eyes remaining trained on the cards in his hand the entire time, as he had found his new nickname just for her.

To Logan, it perfectly described the seemingly the short-fuse that Kitty had on her temper, which was something that Logan realized that they might have in common.

Even if she wanted to get mad and argue about the nickname he had found for her, all Kitty could do was smile when she heard it, now that she had a better understanding of the mindset of the man who had given it to her.

"I was going to suggest taking all of you to see the gladiators perform at the Coliseum when next we all returned to Nova Roma. But, after seeing those two, I don't believe that any of you would be all that impressed." Amara commented, after Kitty had passed them by on the aisle in the middle of the plane, continuing on to the cockpit to take a seat next to Bobby.

"Ah don't see how they could compare with people fightin' for their lives, against live animals and other people." Rogue responded to Amara's remark.

"Unlike the classic gladiatorial events, the gladiators now are trained professionals. I believe they are akin to what you might refer to as professional wrestlers in your country. Amara explained, "And it didn't seem that those two were acting."

"Yeah, it's pretty much run of the mill stuff back home, which you'll get to see more of." Rogue told her.

"Oh boy. That certainly gives me something to look forward to." Amara sarcastically commented, as she placed her elbows in her lap and rested her face upon the palms of her hands.

But, despite any reservations that she might be feeling, Amara still thought that she was more than up to any challenges that awaited her at this new school, as the Blackbird now rocketed a little faster towards home, partially thanks to a certain short-fused young lady sitting as co-pilot at its helm.

The End.

**……………………………………….**

(Well, maybe not quite the end, at least not yet…)

Epilogue:

As the Blackbird had just left Nova Roma and headed for home in Westchester, another private jet was currently on its way down to that same small, inland nation that the X-Men had just departed. One look at the insignia crest marked on the outside of this small, expensive jet automatically denoted it as belonging to the Hellfire Club, an exclusive organization were the wealthy and elite worldwide came to mingle with one another, both on a professional and on a personal level.

Traveling on this flight was Emma Frost, CEO of Frost Technotics, Headmistress of the Massachusetts Preparatory Academy and member of the aforementioned Hellfire Club, where she also secretly held the notorious title of White Queen within its Inner Circle. Emma was currently on her way to Nova Roma to personally confirm the sighting of a very powerful mutant in the city, whose powers had manifested themselves nearly twenty-four hours ago. But, the platinum-blonde passenger was about to receive a bit of discouraging news, with regards to her desire to recruit this new mutant for her own Massachusetts Academy.

"Reese, what have you uncovered so far?" Emma said, as she spoke into her cell-phone, answering the incoming call from one of the Inner Circle's mercenary operatives, who had already arrived in Nova Roma ahead of her.

"We lost the girl, it looks like the X-Men got here a few hours before us. By the time we figured out who this kid was, they had already got to her and her parents." Reese replied.

"That is disappointing news, to say the least." Emma told him, "Although, having just beaten Xavier to our most recent acquisitions, the Jones and the Cargill girls', they will have to suffice as a more than suitable consolation, for the time being."

"Should I gather the men and return home?" Reese now asked Emma.

"No, I want you to remain. Although the mutant in Nova Roma may have eluded us, I do believe that the Hellfire Club may still have some other, very important business to deal with there. I will rendezvous with you and your men at the airport in Nova Roma's capital city, I should be touching down within the hour." Emma replied, as she then hung up the phone, and in a display of her irritation at having missed out on the chance to get this new mutant that wielded such raw power, she angrily tossed the cell-phone down into the empty seat next to her.

Alone on the corporate-chartered plane, Emma was now left alone with her thoughts, in a mind powerful enough to literally reach out and touch the world around her.

"A few of Nova Roma's more notable, and rather high-ranking citizens, have expressed a private interest in joining us. I imagine that it to only be proper to give them a fair opportunity, to see if they are truly worthy of an invitation into the Inner Circle. At the very least, I imagine that it can't hurt to have a few more public officials on our payroll, to go along with the others already indebted to us." Emma wickedly smiled and thought to herself, as the private plane that she was on crossed into the region of Brazil known as the Maderia.

The arrival of the White Queen, and the possible interjection of the Inner Circle into the affairs of this small country, carried with it the potential of severely altering the way of life of every single person residing within Nova Roma.

Forever.

**………………………………….**

Next Chapter: Wheel of ideas, turn, turn, turn…

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A/N: Special thanks to my three reviewers from last chapter-

**ishandahalf**- Glad you found your way into the latest part of my little saga, and that you like the short-story format of this fic. I hope you like what's coming up, and don't worry, Rogue and Remy will get their chance to shine.

**TheDreamerLady**- Well, I hope this chapter satisfied your craving for a little, old-school New Mutant action, and that it whet your appetite for more to come at the same time, especially with Selene and the Hellfire Club at work behind the scenes in Nova Roma. Oh, and the big words say they feel the love back at ya…

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked the fact that the Alison/Scott situation is starting to get very interesting, and you liked the other stuff going on with the flip-side at the Massachusetts Academy. If you think John and Lance's drama has been exciting, you ain't seen nothin' yet. And as far as Lance getting caught, Frederick J. Dukes may not be many things, but being unable to count isn't one of them.


	5. Stories 8,9,10, and 11

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**…………………………………………..**

Story 8- Love Will Bring You Back

**…………………………………………..**

Just as in most major airports around the world, Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo at the moment was chock full of individuals, both arriving to and departing from Japan, as well as those there to welcome and to say their goodbyes to the interchanging travelers. But, having already said a tearful farewell to the man that she had quickly grown to love just a few weeks ago, one woman in particular currently stood looking out onto the section of the runway designated for small jets and other charter planes to land, doing so through one of the numerous huge windows within the immense airport. She is now a woman overjoyed and brimming with anticipation, all at the prospect of feeling the sensation of her love's powerful arms wrapped around her once again.

As the private jet belonging to Mariko Yashida, who sits as Yashida International's powerful CEO, came to a slow halt after being taxied down the runway, Ms. Yashida immediately came outside on this breezy afternoon and waited as the large metal gate in front of her slowly rolled open. Within a few minutes the man who had been known by a plethora of names, but who usually went by his simplest moniker of Logan, descended down the ramp of the small jet dressed in his red and black lumberjack's shirt with the sleeves rolled up and plain denim blue-jeans.

Logan carried with him his sizable green duffle in one hand, which was slung back over his right shoulder. He also had another long, black case in his left hand, which contained the sacred Honor Blade of the Clan Yashida. As he walked towards the gate, Logan looked and immediately saw Mariko standing there next to Toru, her head bodyguard and most trusted aide.

Alluring as ever, Mariko was dressed in an orchid-colored, silk-chiffon blouse with ¾-length sleeves and a matching embroidered skirt, which accentuated her five-foot, three-inch wispy frame quite well, without overstating it. Mariko also had a white scarf that tied back her lengthy black hair, which allowed her face to be fully displayed. Hers was a face that seemed to mysteriously draw you into her, despite her usually reserved, and what would at first glance appear to be a distant countenance, due to the stately composure that she generally maintained about herself. You had no idea how she did it, as though it were an almost innate appeal that she possessed. But once you got to actually know Mariko, you were glad nonetheless.

Once Logan had made it over to the gated area, Mariko immediately came up and kissed him very passionately, all while taking something out from behind her back in her right hand. It was a very familiar light-brown Stetson cowboy hat that belonged to Logan, which he had left with Mariko a few weeks earlier as a small memento. Mariko took it out and reached up to place it on the top of Logan's head, once their amorous display was finished.

"Aren't you worried what others'll say about a woman of your high social-station, standin' here puckered up with a bum like me in front of all o' these people?" Logan now playfully asked Mariko, as he looked down into her beautiful dark-pupils and alluded to the fact that Japanese cultural norms generally shied away from such public and intimate shows of affection.

"I suppose that you can simply add it to the small list of other customary taboos that I have dared to challenge, such as a woman attempting to make her mark in the upper-echelons of the business world, or even choosing a Westerner as my consort." Mariko responded with a small smile, "You are my chosen, and I feel no shame in the rest of the world being made aware of that fact."

"M'iko, not that I ain't damn glad to see you here and now, but what happened to us meetin' up at Agarashima later on tonight?" Logan asked, as he referred to the pre-arranged plans that he and Mariko had made, when they spoke via cell-phone while Logan was still in the air and en route to Japan.

"Luck has smiled on me to have brought you back here so quickly. I thought that greeting you here in person to be more appropriate, and that it the least that I could do since you have more than earned a hero's welcome home, my beloved. Twice over now, as a matter of fact." Mariko smilingly replied, as Toru relieved Logan of his duffle bag and the Honor Blade case, taking the items ahead through the airport to the limousine awaiting the couple nearby in one of the loading areas.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I ain't no hero." Logan told her, as they now left the fenced gate and started towards the terminal entrance behind Toru, while Mariko's plane was taxied off of the runway to make room for another incoming small plane.

"I would think it to be an extremely accurate description of a man, who both helped to defend the name and the honor of my family, and then left here to risk life and limb to help end that hostage crisis in Washington D.C. involving the U.S. President." Mariko reminded him.

"I was only one guy, out of a WHOLE buncha people that fought hard to bring those Sentinels down." Logan modestly replied, as the door going into the mostly-empty auxiliary terminal slid open in front of them.

"I know, I watched the entire thing on television after I received your video-phone message that day. I also remember seeing another one of those brave individuals you are referring to, fighting alongside the famed Captain America. And judging by the fact that he had covered himself in a thick coat of ice, I can only assume that he was another one of the students that you had previously informed me of." Mariko stated, as Logan had gone into great detail with her in discussing his life, which included Xavier's school, the students and the X-Men and how they used their various powers to help and defend the world around them, and what little of his past that he had been able to unravel.

"Having seen the courage exhibited first-hand by Rogue when she was here, and also by this other young man, it is obvious that their teachers have taught them well." Mariko continued.

"I'll have to pass the kudos along to the rest of the gang, next time I get the chance." Logan happily replied, as they continued on into the main terminal and past the baggage claim area.

As they passed by a waiting area inside of the airport, something within managed to catch Logan's attention out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, speak o' the devil…" Logan said, as he looked up to one of the numerous television screens mounted above that encircled the entire waiting area. He stopped with Mariko to listen to the news broadcast, and even though Logan was fluent in Japanese and understood every word that the news anchor was saying, the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words still proved to be true.

_"…In world news, this was the scene earlier today after Captain America, Iron Man, The Wasp, and Giant-Man, all now collectively known as the recently-formed super-hero team The Avengers, attempted to capture the monstrous creature that has been referred to simply as The Hulk. But, they were ultimately unsuccessful, as the Hulk's incomprehensible strength during his latest rampage, this time in a moderately-populated Central American city, proved to be an insurmountable obstacle in their efforts…"_

"Logan-chan, is everything alright?" Mariko asked him, as she saw that Logan was staring intensely at the TV monitor above, which was now showing video footage of the destruction left behind in the wake of the battle between the Hulk and the Avengers.

"I guess that's the question we're gonna have to wait on an answer for, ain't it?" Logan replied, as he finally turned away from the video-footage of the battle and back to her, "C'mon, M'iko. Let's say we get outta here, so we can go some place nice and kick this welcome home party off right."

"That is an excellent idea." Mariko smiled and agreed, as the two of them then continued on towards the airport's exit, destined for a quick stop back at her penthouse in Tokyo, before for a long night out on the town.

**……………………………………**

Story 9- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Flashback)

**……………………………………**

It had only been a few hours and Rahne Sinclair was still reeling from the fact that her life had been completely, and irreversibly, turned upside down. As she lay on the bed in this new and unfamiliar bedroom, wearing new and unfamiliar clothes, Rahne struggled to fathom it all. Just the fact that a lowly orphan such as herself was actually inside of the famous Kinross family estate was mind-boggling enough, but how she got there was even more amazing.

And, that realization was substantially more frightening to Rahne as well.

After Rahne's biological mother had died soon after giving birth to her, the infant was taken in by local Presbyterian minister, Reverend Craig. Reverend Craig went on to raise Rahne to be, in his words 'a good Christian woman', something that the Reverend repeatedly reminded his young ward that her 'harlot' mother hadn't been.

Reverend Craig preached to his congregation extensively about the shortcomings of man, and warned his parishioners to be wary and on guard against all worldly influences. He said that they were sin merely disguised in beautiful garment, meant to draw the true believer off of the path of righteousness and onto the road that led straight to Hell. His words were so moving, and his convictions so eloquently stated, that not one member of his flock would leave church on Sunday without their soul a stirring. Possessing such a fiery ability, Reverend Craig had quickly come to wield a tremendous amount of influence among the local populace in the township of Kinross, seemingly making his word carry the weight of law in everybody's mind.

Well, almost everybody.

Moira Kinross MacTaggert had nothing against the Reverend or his sermons, but she certainly did not see eye-to-eye with how the 'good Reverend' treated the young girl that had been left in his charge. Reverend Craig was very strict with Rahne, often bordering on what some would call cruelty and what many would say went far beyond that. Still, Moira always went out of her way to show warmth and kindness to Rahne when she would see her, which Moira was sure that the young girl so desperately needed. It might have been nothing more than saying a kind word to Rahne, if she happened to pass her by on the road that ran by the edge of Dr.MacTaggert's family's ancestral lands outside of town.

It was just such a chance meeting between them on this very evening that had resulted in Dr. MacTaggert saving the young girl's life.

**……………………………………**

When Rahne's mutant ability to metamorph into a werewolf first emerged, it frightened her as much as it did those around her. But, when those abilities that she had been struggling to keep secret were finally revealed to Reverend Craig earlier this day, to him it was merely an outward display of the sinfulness that he believed to reside within the girl, and it was a condition that he felt would only continue to worsen. He convinced the other citizens of the area that they could not allow such an evil to exist in their proximity, else it might spread to the rest of the children in the town. An impromptu lynch mob was formed, and the young Wolf-girl was forced to flee a small crowd that chased her wielding axes, rifles, and other weapons.

Late this night, as Dr. MacTaggert was returning from Muir Island for a visit to her home on the mainland, she happened to see the crowd with torches and other lights off in the distance near the perimeter of her family's estate. Dr. MacTaggert drove her black SUV off of the road and as far as she could on the sloping highlands of An Morag, then got out and went on to continue her investigation by foot.

Suddenly, she was startled by the sound of a loud gunshot.

Dr. MacTaggert immediately hurried over from the vehicle in the crowd's direction, thinking that they were hunting roe deer or some other wild game illegally on her property. Once she had made it the distance from her vehicle to where the mob was, she was shocked at what she found.

Dr. MacTaggert saw what appeared to be a wolf of some sort, lying on the ground with a bullet wound to its shoulder. But slowly, the wolf seemed to change shape right before her eyes, shifting from one of an animal into a human being. Dr. MacTaggert instantly recognized the face of the little girl now before her as belonging to young Rahne Sinclair.

"**Have all of ye completely lost yuir minds**!" Dr. MacTaggert shouted at the small group drawing close to her, vehemently denouncing their behavior.

"Stand back Lady Moira, lest ye be injured. We've come for the girl's life, she be possessed by the Devil himself!" Reverend Craig ordered her, as one of the men behind him lifted his rifle and aimed it at the unconscious girl on the ground.

"I willna do any such thing! Even if that were true about her, she still deserves better than bein' hunted down in the middle of the night by a bunch of grown men, wishing t'perform their own shotgun exorcism." Dr. MacTaggert responded, as she stood in between them and Rahne, taking off the green overcoat that she had been wearing and placing it on the ground to cover up Rahne. Rahne's transformation into a wolf had torn her clothing off and the ensuing chase had left the pieces scattered back across the surrounding countryside.

"Ye MUST hand her over! She's a danger to the entire village and must be destroyed, before she's allowed t'spread her bewitchment t'other innocents." Reverend Craig continued, as the bearded, middle-aged clergyman held his Bible firmly in his grasp out in front of him.

"The only place the girl will be goin' is with me. And, the whole lot of ye are trespassin' on lands belongin' solely to the Kinross clan now, so I suggest that ye be headin' home. That is, unless ye want to find out first hand if the daughter of Lord Kinross also inherited his love of a good fight." Dr. MacTaggert loudly warned them all, as she picked the still unconscious Rahne up in her arms.

While the crowd dispersed just as Lady Moira of Kinross had instructed them, along with an extremely perturbed Reverend Craig, she started back towards the main house on her estate, so that she could properly tend to the young girl's wound.

**……………………………………**

As Rahne now sat up on the edge of the bed in one of the many guest-rooms in Kinross manor, she did so very gingerly. She was careful not to unnecessarily irritate the bullet-wound to her shoulder, which Dr. MacTaggert had treated and then bandaged up after their return. Rahne sat there and looked around at the room with its sturdy and well constructed centuries-old brick and mortar walls, which were covered with various paintings, drapery, and other ornate decorations. Then, the bedroom door slowly opened up.

"Good, I'm glad t'see ye're awake now. I came t'check on how ye were doin'." Dr. MacTaggert said, as she entered the room dressed in a sweater-blouse that had alternating dark teal and white horizontal stripes and pants of a similar teal shade, also wearing her silver-rimmed eyeglasses and letting her reddish-brown hair rest just above her shoulders.

"I brought this, just in case ye might be a bit famished." Dr. MacTaggert continued, as she had brought in a covered tray in with her that had a small meal on it, and sat it down on the night table next to the head of the bed.

"Thank ye, Lady Moira." Rahne timidly replied, as she at first was hesitant to even look up from the bed to make eye contact with Dr. MacTaggert.

"Och, enough with that 'Lady Moira' talk. Just plain Moira will do poppet." Moira said, as she now sat down on the bed next to Rahne.

"I could'nae call ye that. Would Miss Moira be okay?" Rahne respectfully inquired, as her bright green eyes at last looked up to meet Moira's blue ones.

"That would be fine." Moira replied, as she then went on to another subject that had brought her in to see Rahne, "If those pajamas I put on ye are a little too big, there're some other ones in that dresser-drawer over there that ye can try on, and see if they're more suitable t'yuir liking."

"These are okay. Better than okay, I've never had on anythin' so nice." Rahne responded, commenting on the pink, satin pajamas that she was wearing. Rahne was used to wearing clothes given to her second-hand that, while far more practical for the colder climate of Scotland, was attire that was usually far less showy.

"Well, tomorrow I'll send someone into town to get ye some more new clothes, since ye'll be stayin' with me from now on and ye obviously did'nae get a chance t'pack an overnight bag." Moira smiled, as she had intended her whimsical comment to draw one on Rahne's face as well, but no such luck.

"Ye've been so kind to me already, ye don't have t'go t'such troubles on mah account." Rahne said, as she looked back down at the cold, brownish-gray bricked floor.

"Tis no trouble at all." Moira supportively replied as she looked over at Rahne, who had now sat further back up on the bed away from its edge with her legs drawn in close to her, and had her arms wrapped around them in front of her.

"But, I am trouble. Look at the commotion that I caused earlier, all because of this wickedness that's inside of me." Rahne told her, still looking downward to the floor out in front of her.

"And why would ye say such a thing?" Moira asked Rahne, as she ran her hand through the young girl's very short red-hair.

"Because it's true, even Reverend Craig said so. He said I be an evil creature, that I'm a spawn of Satan with all of this sinfulness born with me." Rahne replied, referring to her ability to transform into a werewolf.

"You're not evil, child. Ye're one of God's beautiful creations, come into the world just the same as the rest of us. And I should know, considerin' I was there when ye were born." Moira revealed to Rahne. On that fateful night when Rahne's birth mother went into labor, Dr. MacTaggert had happened to be the closest doctor in the rural area to assist with the delivery.

"Really!" Rahne looked up at Moira and exclaimed, surprised by this revelation, "Ye knew my mother?"

"Not that well." Moira told her, "But, I remember that she was a beautiful woman, pretty just like you are. So, no more of this talk about ye bein' some kind of 'devil-child', do ye hear me?"

"Yes, m'lady." Rahne now agreed, as Moira's still slightly-smiling expression while talking to her had finally caused the younger Scots girl to smile a little as well.

"Rahne, tell me, have ye ever heard of beings called mutants?" Moira now questioned her.

"Once, I think. I heard some other kids at school talkin' about them, and about how dangerous they are." Rahne remembered, as she sat up in the bed.

"Well, that can be true. But, mutants are people born with an extra gene in their body, which gives them all kinds of special abilities. There's nothing evil about having that gene or these powers, it's just a part of nature. Do ye understand?" Moira sympathetically asked, hoping that she had shed some light on the source of Rahne's metamorphing ability for her.

"I think so, but I still have mah own doubts about these powers bein' a good thing." Rahne honestly told her.

"Well, once ye've healed up, I'm going t'take ye with me t'Muir Island, so ye can see first-hand what I'm talking about." Moira now revealed to the girl, "For now, I think a good night's sleep'll do more for ye than anything."

Moira stood up and prepared to leave the room, so that Rahne could get some rest following her very eventful day. But, Rahne spoke out to Moira again, as she once again pulled back the covers on the bed and prepared to climb back underneath the bed sheets.

"Miss Moira?" Rahne said, as she settled back in for the night.

"Yes, what's the matter?" Moira asked with concern in her voice, as she immediately rushed back over to Rahne's bedside.

"Oh, everythin' is fine. I…just wanted t'thank ye, for everything ye've done for me." Rahne looked up and sincerely told her, referring both to Moira's rescue of her earlier, and for the kindness that Moira had since shown to this orphan by taking her in.

"And, ye're quite welcome." Moira replied, as she came over and kissed the young girl on the forehead, before turning back to head towards the door, turning the lights off in the bedroom as she exited.

As she left Rahne to hopefully drift off into a peaceful night's slumber, Moira thought to herself that it was unimaginable anyone could think of harming a sweet-heart like Rahne, mutant or not. But, having seen and being fully aware of the growing anti-mutant sentiments world-wide, Moira just hoped that the relationship between mutants and humans would somehow find a way to get better, before more brutal incidents like the one that she had luckily prevented from occurring this night managed to come to fruition.

**……………………………………**

Story 10- Cats and Dragons

**……………………………………**

With the spring semester over, along with all final examinations being graded and essay papers turned in, summer had now officially begun. At Xavier's School for the Gifted, while its rigorous academic load had lightened considerably as a result, the students still worked very hard everyday at continuing to learn to control and further hone their mutant powers.

In addition, Professor Xavier still conducted classes, although on a more informal basis with them. He gave his students assignments that had a slightly greater emphasis on their entertainment value, such as reading and discussing books that weren't included in the school's curriculum during the regular school year. There were also other summer activities put together for the students there, such as various museum and educational outings, and occasional trips to local theme parks.

The reason for all of this being done was that a good number of the students, for various reasons, simply didn't have anywhere else to go and the school was their only home now. But, with it being summer it did leave the students with a lot more spare time, time to enjoy such pastimes as lounging out by the school's outdoor Olympic-sized pool that had a retractable cover, going to hang out at the local Salem Center mall, or simply vegging out in front of the TV.

Which, one student in particular was doing in the mansion's student recreation room at the moment.

"Okay boy, this is a reeaaall good part here." Kitty Pryde said, as she laid on her back on the sofa in the rec-room, watching one of her favorite movies. She was enjoying this DVD flick with a very special friend, who was also watching very closely as well, and happened to be doing so as he lay on Kitty's mint-colored t-shirt, nestled across her stomach.

_"…I find your lack of faith…disturbing."_

"See, I toldja so." Kitty smiled, as she looked towards her abdomen area and spoke to Lockheed, the purple lizard-like creature with wings that she had met and befriended during the X-Men's battle to stop Mastermold and his Sentinels' attempted takeover of the world.

As Kitty and Lockheed continued watching the DVD movie together, they were soon joined by a third party, who had been searching the entire mansion for Kitty.

"So, here you are." The towering Peter Rasputin now said, as he entered the rec-room and came over to the sofa.

"Yeah, I decided to teach Lockheed all about Star Wars." Kitty replied, as she shot straight up on the sofa at the sight of Peter, unintentionally knocking Lockheed down to the carpet below.

"Starting with Episode IV, I see." Peter remarked, as he had also become quite familiar with the series thanks to Kitty.

"Well, I'm not sure what kinda attention span that dragons have, so I figured I'd save the prequels for later on." Kitty replied.

Before they had started officially dating, Peter would have definitely struggled with just identifying the significant difference between Ewoks and Wookies. But, thanks to his new girlfriend's part-time obsession; which included watching all of the movies, collecting both old and new comics and books from the series, and buying other forms of merchandising and memorabilia that she kept in her room, Peter now knew without a doubt that Kitty and Lockheed were at the part of this particular movie where Darth Vader had given a very dramatic demonstration of what exactly the Force could do.

While Peter went and sat down next to Kitty on the sofa, with the couple starting to snuggle and get very comfortable together, Lockheed clamorously voiced his feelings of now being 'kicked to the curb' from the floor below.

"**Grrrrrrr**…" Lockheed growled, as the winged creature stood on all four paws on the floor, with his tail swaying back and forth very quickly behind him, and looked up at Kitty and Peter. As the couple stared at one another with longing expressions and started kissing, the teens' affectionate actions seemed to rouse an apparent protective instinct in Lockheed.

"Quiet dragon!" Peter sternly said, as he briefly turned away from the petite girl that he was holding in his arms, looking down at Lockheed.

"Oh, don't start actin' jealous, you know I love you." Kitty said.

"And who are you talking to, me or him?" Peter asked as he turned back to face Kitty, with a noticeable smirk on his face.

"You AND him." Kitty loudly giggled, as she now softly kissed Peter up on the small area between his chin and his neck, "Now come on Lockheed, come on up here with us."

With a simple gesture of her hand Lockheed did as Kitty asked, spreading his wings out to quickly swoop up to the space on the sofa next to Kitty, but this time landing on the side opposite from Peter.

"You remember where we left off, or do I need to do a quick rewind for you?" Kitty looked down and asked Lockheed, since the movie had continued running while they were talking. But, the dragon turned around in a circle for a bit in an attempt to make himself comfortable on the sofa's cushion, then looked up at Kitty and simply let out a small snort, as he sat down in a resting position to face the large-screen TV.

"I do not know which is stranger, the fact that you were able to convince the Professor to let you keep such an unusual creature as a pet, or that you have lengthy and fairly drawn out conversations with it." Peter told Kitty with a small laugh, "I am just waiting to see the day when Lockheed finally does talk back to you."

"C'mon, it's not that weird, people talk to their pets all the time. Besides, Lockheed's more than just a pet, he's my partner." Kitty responded to Peter's remark, "I've even been takin' him down to the Danger Room with me, just the two of us. I've been teachin' him different battle maneuvers and other stuff, and he picks it all up with no problem, like he understands exactly what I'm saying to him."

"So, I assume that means that he will have his own uniform in no time as well?" Peter teasingly inquired, even though it was meant in good fun.

Peter had managed to slip into the Danger Room's control booth a few times to watch Kitty and Lockheed running their simulations together, although it was a fact that his girlfriend was totally unaware of.

"I doubt it. Every time I try to dress him up, Lockheed either eats or burns the outfit off in under a minute." Kitty laughingly replied, having decided long ago to concede in the fashion department, and she had stopped trying to dress Lockheed in outfits that were originally meant to be worn by small household pets.

As Kitty and Peter now became pre-occupied with the movie, and even more so with each other, Lockheed sat for a time watching the tale on the television about beings and creatures from a galaxy far, far away. But, one would have to assume that Lockheed had seen this movie before, as he was soon fast asleep on the sofa, while Kitty and Peter sat tightly embraced right next to him.

**……………………………………**

Story 11– Promises, Promises

**……………………………………**

This early summer evening found Bobby Drake in his room, as he had been doing some rearranging in there with his free time. Since he had finally packed up and removed John Allerdyce's belongings a few weeks prior, and since it also didn't look as though he would be assigned a new roommate anytime soon, Bobby decided to move things around in a layout that was more to his liking. As he moved his night-stand, desk, and dressers to new parts of the bedroom, something that had been on the floor behind one of the pieces of furniture suddenly caught his eye.

"Wow." Bobby thought to himself, as he went over and picked up the small, shiny object from the floor. He then went and sat down on his bed for a while, examining the object in his hand so carefully that it seemed as though he were appraising it for auction. Finally, Bobby got up and quickly left his room, heading down towards the end of the hallway in the boys' wing of the upstairs dormitories.

Bobby made it over to the open central area that was in front of the staircase, which separated the boys' and girls' dormitory wings, in no time. As he did, he ran into Amara Aquilla, who happened to be coming out of the girls' wing at that exact same time.

"Amara, have you seen Rogue?" Bobby stopped and asked her.

"I believe that she is in her and Jubilee's room at the moment." Amara stood and answered.

"Thanks, really appreciate it." Bobby hurriedly replied, as he rushed past Amara into the girls' wing.

"You are quite welcome." Amara smiled and shook her head, after she had been spun around when Bobby whipped right past her. Then, Amara continued on down the staircase in front of her, heading for her first-floor destination to join Terry and Dani.

**……………………………………**

Rogue was in her bedroom lying sprawled across her bed, with a notebook underneath her and a number of bindered manuals scattered around her on the bed and on the floor. She lay dressed in a plain red t-shirt, had on a pair of arm-length sheer gloves, a pair of black, lightweight cotton sweats, and had her hair tied back into a long, single ponytail.

Rogue had been busily reading through the mountain of manuals surrounding her, which contained information on military tactics gathered from various leaders and strategists throughout history. Rogue had been studying and taking notes on this, all at the advice of Mr. Summers. It was after she had asked him what were some of the things that he and Ms. Munroe had done to improve their leadership abilities, to the point where they each seemed to function so coolly in their role as the X-Men's field commanders.

Mr. Summers had told Rogue that reviewing these differing philosophies, and then determining which ones would work given certain mission parameters would help her later on, when she would be the one having to make the split-second decisions that might hold life-or-death consequences for her teammates.

"Rogue, mind if I bother you for a minute?" A voice now inquired from the doorway of her bedroom, doing so over the blaring music that was coming out of Jubilee's boom box sitting on a study desk in the room.

"Uh-huh." Rogue mumbled in a low voice, as she was so absorbed by the text of the manual in front of her that she didn't even look up at first to see who was speaking to her.

"I was cleaning out some stuff in my room and I found this. I'm pretty sure it belongs to you." Bobby told her, as he took the object out of the pocket of the blue gym shorts that he was wearing, and tossed it over from the doorway onto Rogue's bed.

"What, where'd you get this?" Rogue replied, as she finally broke away from her textbook when the object landed on the bed in front of her, "This…is the promise-ring that you gave me."

"Yeah, I know. As hard as you threw it at me when we broke up, we're just lucky it only ended up behind my dresser, and not out in orbit. I guess it's good you don't have super-strength or anything." Bobby warmly said to her.

"Ah guess so. Well, at least now you can take it and see how much you can get for it." Rogue smiled and light-heartedly replied, as she looked at the ring in her hand and was about to toss it back to Bobby.

"Actually, I came over so I could give it back to you." Bobby said to Rogue, which completely caught her off guard.

"Um, Ah don't know about that." Rogue apprehensively told Bobby, "Ah mean, considerin'…"

"That things're over between us now, yeah I got that. It's just that I did get this for you, and I wanted you to keep it as a reminder of the good times that we had together. Sort of like a friendship ring, I guess." Bobby explained.

"Friendship ring, huh?" Rogue semi-sarcastically remarked.

"And according to you, we are still friends, right?" Bobby equally questioned her, referring to the statement that she had made to him a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, we are." Rogue responded, with a slight smile.

"Good. Well, I'm going to quit bothering you, and let you get back to whatever it was you were working on." Bobby cheerfully said, as he disappeared in an instant from the doorway and left Rogue alone in her room.

Rogue laid back, placing the ring on the nightstand next to her by her bed. As she lay there, the satellite-radio channel on Jubilee's boom box now played Scars by Papa Roach. As she listened, Rogue couldn't help but think a little about her and Bobby. But, ironically enough, whether it had to do with the close proximity of the ring or not, Rogue couldn't help but smile a little when she actually thought about the good times that the two of them did have together, which in the end seemed to overshadow all of the hurt and pain that had transpired between them.

**……………………………………**

Next chapter: And on the subject of hurt and pain, you just knew it was going to happen sooner or later…**Gambit** vs. **Iceman**! (And this one ain't gonna be a flashback either…)

**……………………………………**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**El Varon**- Glad you liked the last chapters. The Logan/Kitty scene is one of my favorites too, it's one that I had in mind going all the way back to when I was writing Land of The Silver Sun and first mentioned it then.

**ishandahalf**- Glad you liked things so much with Kitty and Logan, and that I managed to get a few laughs out of you last chapter on top of it. I also hope you enjoyed the Kitty/Peter story in this chapter just as much.

**Independent Fire**- I'm thrilled you liked the story about Amara's background so much, along with the revelation about the origins of 'Short-stuff'. And, there'll definitely be some more alternative school drama with John, Lance, and the rest of the gang in the upcoming chapters, so I hope you stay tuned for that as well.

**TheDreamerLady**- Well, I guess I completely missed the mark with the whole Nova Roma experience in the movie-verse.

But, then again, who's to say that some things aren't a lot closer to canon than they might appear at first glance? Maybe Selene is a goddess and an external here after all? She just might be carefully concealing that fact, guarding it a lot more closely from the rest of the world than her comic-counterpart did. And in true Star Wars fashion (Which Kitty would get a kick out of, if it weren't such a bad omen for them), Selene may eventually reveal her 'true-self' to them all?

Of course, when the time is right…


	6. Stories 12 through 16

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**…………………………………………..**

Story 12- Vs.

The Danger Room, originally designed by Professor Charles Xavier to assist his students in learning how to control their mutant powers, and to then use those abilities to help in protecting a world that, ironically enough, had come to fear them for those very same powers that they possessed. Xavier had intended for his students, for his X-Men, to use the Danger Room to also learn to work together, hopefully molding these many varied and individual personalities into a cohesive unit that would function effectively as a team.

But, sometimes things can go awry, in spite of the very best of intentions.

Gambit and Iceman were currently demonstrating that fact in said Danger Room, as all of the junior X-Men watched them from its control booth up above. The school's junior-squad were all decked out in their dark blue and silver-trimmed leather uniforms, as they bore witness to an unexpected showdown taking place before them.

"I gotta say, not too bad, 'Ice-bucket'!"

"Yeah, that's pretty good coming from a career criminal. Or, did you steal that insult too?"

What was supposed to be a fairly low-key walkthrough in one of the Danger Room's beginner-level combat simulations, which was intended to be for the benefit of the junior squad, had rapidly escalated into something much more. As Gambit and Iceman continued their derisive exchange of words, they did so in between the clanging of each of their fighting staffs striking, with one being made of metal and the other out of solid ice.

"I've been wanting to see just for myself if you're really as good as you've been bragging you are?" Iceman said, as a visible smile could definitely be seen on his face, even though it and the rest of his body was covered in a sheet of ice.

"Then, I s'ppose it'd be rude of me t'disappoint?" Gambit replied with a smirk of his own, as the two men now faced off in front of each other with their staffs crossed. With a new twinkle in his red-on-black eyes, Gambit then set to the task of backing up all of his previous braggadocio.

Gambit proceeded to launch into an all-out attack, as he thrust and swung the metal staff in his hand profusely at his opponent, hoping to land a quick and decisive knock-out blow against Iceman. But, if he was expecting to catch his opponent off-guard, Gambit was immediately shown that would not be the case. He would certainly have his work cut out for him this day, as Iceman used his own ice-staff to successfully fend off most of Gambit's lunging advances.

Although it was Rogue that had garnered the most accolades for her advanced level of expertise in hand-to-hand combat, in truth, all of the members of the X-Men's senior student-squad had been given the appropriate tools by Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler with which to defend themselves in a fight, whether it be armed or unarmed. And, Iceman was clearly showing Gambit that both he and the ice-staff that he had created with his mutant powers were more than up to the challenge.

After bandying a multitude of staff blows between one another, Iceman and Gambit paused again. They stood there facing each other just a few feet apart, in what had originally been a desert environment holographically created around them in the Danger Room. But, the two men had since shut down the actual training simulation, choosing to continue their showdown in the spacious and empty Danger Room that was now left in its metallic-domed default state.

"When you're ready to really get started, just let me know." Iceman tauntingly said to Gambit, as he had his ice-staff firmly planted on the metal-tiled floor in front of him.

"Thought you'd never ask." Gambit replied with a wink, as he had been rotating his vanadium-reinforced staff in his right hand, but now suddenly stopped. Then, Gambit reached into the black and brown-trimmed leather trench coat of his uniform and pulled out three cards, which he managed to charge and throw at Iceman in only a matter of seconds.

But Iceman countered just as quickly, as he dropped his ice-staff and created a large, hand-held ice-shield seemingly out of thin air. He dodged two of the cards and was able to block the explosive damage from the third with his shield. Then, it was his turn to go on the offensive.

"That was pretty sloppy. It looks like you need this training session more than the junior squad up there does." Iceman mockingly said, as he used his ice powers to create a few thin sheets of ice in his left hand, deciding to mimic Gambit's favorite weapon of choice by fashioning rectangular playing cards of his own, and then hurling them from his left hand at the Cajun.

Gambit responded by leaping through the air with almost cat-like reflexes, and kept the ice-cards from actually striking his body by barely dodging them. But, since the ice-cards were denser than actual playing cards and were as sharp as razor blades, they still managed to slice through Gambit's loose black leather trench coat as they passed by, leaving it tattered in a few spots.

"Well, since you went and brought up de subject, and since dis is a school, I guess it time that Gambit do a little brushin' up of his own." Gambit grinned, as he finished cart wheeling out of the way of the last of Iceman's numerous ice-cards that had been aimed at him.

"The library's upstairs on the first floor, down at the end of the hall. Study all you want." Iceman sarcastically said, as he now created an ice-slide for himself and began to travel around the Danger Room on it, swiftly circling around Gambit and preparing to finish off their duel.

Meanwhile, another observer had appeared up in the control booth. And she was not at all happy with what she saw taking place, to say the least.

"**What in the world's goin' on down there**?" Rogue loudly demanded to know, as she walked into the control booth behind the junior X-Men already standing in there, dressed in a plain white, long-sleeved tee that she had the sleeves rolled up on them and some jeans.

"Gambit and Iceman were supposed to be teaching us how to run a combat-sim, but all of a sudden they started fighting with each other down there." Danielle Moonstar replied, as she stood next to her fellow junior-squad teammates and looked down through the large window of the control booth, all of them watching as Gambit and Iceman were still going strong in their face-off below.

"And they're layin' the smack down on each other pretty good too!" Jaime Madrox didn't mind adding.

"Good goin' there, ye insensitive clod." Theresa Cassidy scolded Jaime after hearing his remark, as she realized how wrenching it must be for Rogue to see that her current and her ex-boyfriend had come to blows right in front of her.

"Whatever…" Jaime shrugged in response, as he crossed his arms in front of him in a nonchalant manner and turned his full attention back to the contest down below.

Meanwhile, Rogue went on to make a remark of her own.

"Well, Ah'm gonna go down there, and lay some smack of my own down on those two!" Rogue emotionally stated, as she turned and stormed out of the control booth, heading down to the Danger Room .

In the meantime…

"I don't need no library for de kind of studyin' I'm talkin' 'bout." Gambit replied to Iceman, as Iceman continued circling around him on his ice-slide, "See, I study people, and de world is my library. I been keepin' one eye on you since day one, and prob'bly know you better than you know yo'self by now."

"Well, I hope while you were studying me, that you kept an eye open on how to walk on ice." Iceman said, as he went to make his move and used his powers to instantaneously freeze the metallic floor right underneath Gambit.

Gambit tried to get out of range of his ice-blast, but for a split-second lost his footing on the now icy floor. In that brief lapse Iceman continued his freeze-job and caught Gambit unawares, as the arctic sheet quickly crept across the floor and managed to freeze Gambit's feet cold in their tracks. Iceman next froze Gambit's lower torso, and then continued upwards with his icy grip until it was at Gambit's chest-level, leaving most of Gambit's body wrapped inside of an ice-cocoon.

"Well, it looks like I made my point." Iceman said, as he hopped off of his ice-slide and began walking over to Gambit, who was now restrained and trapped within this frigid confinement, "All I've got to say now is I got you right where I want you."

"_Au Contraire_. Me t'inks Gambit is de one who got you right where he wants you." Gambit replied, with an ultra-confident smile present on his face.

"What do you mean?" Iceman inquired as he continued approaching Gambit, his frosty breath very much visible in the air with every word.

"All dis time you been tryin' to corner me, but it never occurred to you dat maybe I was de one lurin' you into de proverbial cage?" Gambit replied, as he was definitely beginning to feel the effects of the chilly ice pressed tightly around his body, all despite the weather-tolerable materials that the X-Men's uniforms had been made out of.

"See since I been here, de _Professeur_ done helped to show me dat there're some aspects of my powers I never even considered, which I t'ink is finally gonna come in handy dealin' wit' yo' version of de 'Big Chill'."

Then, as Gambit paused, Iceman distinctly began to hear the sound of ice starting to crack.

"I use my powers to increase de kinetic energy in solid objects, but now I've gotten better at bein' able to do it to varyin' degrees. Such as, chargin' de ice around my hands and then de rest of my body just enough to let me break loose, but doin' it wit'out blowin' myself up in de process." Gambit revealed, an instant before the ice shell that had been wrapped around him shattered like a broken window.

The ice exploded outward, with big and small shards flying towards a totally surprised Iceman, as he was forced to dodge the debris being aimed back at him. Meanwhile, Gambit quickly knelt down to the floor to grab his metal staff that had also been freed by the discharge. Gambit then ran towards his opponent with quarterstaff in hand and tossed a number of kinetically charged cards at him, which Iceman managed to neutralize as he froze the cards in mid-air with his ice-blast, causing them to drop down to the ground as they exploded harmlessly a few feet away. But, while Iceman had been distracted by the flying cards, he had lost track of the flying Cajun who had used his staff to pole-vault overhead, doing a somersault in mid-air and landing right behind the arctically-endowed combatant in the blink of an eye.

Now, the time had come for Gambit to make his move.

As he made his descent down from his aerial maneuver, Gambit used his quarterstaff that measured about six feet in length to accurately land a solid blow square in Iceman's back. The pain from the fighting staff finding its mark caused Iceman to immediately fall to his hands and knees, and to also temporarily lose control over his ice-form. But, Gambit took advantage of the opportunity to finish this contest, using his staff to land another heavy blow coming from underneath against Iceman's sternum, causing Iceman to hit the Danger Room floor hard as he landed on his already bruised back.

With Iceman now seemingly down for the count, Gambit went over to announce his victory, doing so in a manner that stayed very true to form.

"I guess since I done received so much while I been here, I t'ink it only proper dat I give somethin' back." Gambit said, as he walked towards and then stepped over a dazed Iceman currently lying on the floor, before putting his right foot on top of Iceman's chest, "So, here's some words of advice. You good, but you need to work on keepin' yo' eye on yo' opponent at all times. Else, you just leavin' yo'self wide open. De other t'ing I got to say is, just so we can make t'ings official, and so there won't be no doubt 'bout it later…"

As Gambit paused in mid-sentence, he pushed a button located on his quarterstaff (a staff that he had made a number of upgrades on and improvements to since arriving in Westchester). Gambit extended a small, serrated-blade out from the end of the staff and aimed it a few inches from Iceman's throat, before finishing his statement…

"**Bang**! You dead…"

"No, you're about to be dead, both of you once Ah get finished with you!" An extremely pissed off Rogue said, as her entrance into the Danger Room hit like a tempest, "What kind of example do you think you're setting for the junior X-Men up there, carryin' on like a couple of jackasses down here! Ah thought you had finally gotten past all of this animosity between the two of you."

Despite the infuriated state that Rogue was currently in, as she demanded an answer from them, Bobby and Remy both responded by busting out laughing.

"And what, exactly, is so funny?" A fumed Rogue continued, as she looked at both men.

"Um, Rogue, we were training so the other kids could get to observe how to use the fighting techniques we've been teaching them in a real-life combat situation." Bobby smiled, as he sat up on the floor of the Danger Room. His black and ice-blue trimmed leather uniform was now visible, since the ice-shell covering him had dissipated, and the suit's colors presumably also mirrored the way that his body currently felt.

"Yeah, you gotta learn t'stop over-reactin'. We was feelin' each other's abilities out, and maybe we got just a little bit carried away." Remy also smiled, as he had since retracted the blade from the end of his quarterstaff, and had put his hand out to help Bobby up to his feet.

"Besides, if we were really trying to kill each other, there'd be nothing left of the Danger Room but smoke and ice right now." Bobby added, "And, I wouldn't have been going so easy on Remy here."

"Goin' easy? Gambit don't need nobody t'pull they punches for him. If you want me t'prove dat, then get all frostied up and I'll show you what I'm--" Remy animatedly said, as he held his staff out to his side in a semi-fighting position.

"Before y'all two get started up again, Ah had come down here to ask you what movie you wanted to see, since Kitty and Peter picked last time and now it's our turn?" Rogue interrupted, as she then turned to face Remy, "If we don't get a move on, Kitty's gonna pick for us. And, you do know what that means?"

"Course, _Mon Cherie_, Gambit know exactly what gonna happen. Petite'll have us spendin' de entire night up to our elbows in light-saber duels. Again." Remy smirked, as he took Rogue's gloved hand into his, "C'mon, we gonna go find a newspaper, or de theatre's number, or somethin', 'fore it's too late."

As Remy and Rogue dashed out of the Danger Room together, Bobby watched them exit and then looked up at the control booth. He motioned for the junior squad to come down and join him to finally begin their combat simulation training, which they and Iceman were already supposed to be running through together.

**…………………………………**

Story 13- Alternative School Part 8, My So-Called Life (flashback)

At a fairly average one-story home located in West Morris, New Jersey lived a girl, whose only wish at the moment was to also be just as average. But, she knew that was only a fantasy, thanks to the terrible secret that she was now hiding from the rest of the world.

Fifteen year-old Angelica Jones was slowly coming to grips with the fact the she was a mutant, after discovering that she now possessed these newfound powers just a few weeks ago. But, accepting something as truth is one thing, welcoming such a profound change in one's life with arms wide open is another matter entirely, as Angelica had quickly become convinced that these newly emerged abilities were rapidly ruining her life.

As Angelica prepared for bed on this cold, wintry night and put on her long white nightgown with little pink flowers printed on it, down at the foot of her bed sat her orange-black housecat named Pumpkin.

"Today just couldn't have been any worse." Angelica started, as she sat on her bed and began to brush her lengthy red-hair while talking to Pumpkin. By now, Pumpkin had come and jumped up onto her bed and affectionately rubbed up against Angelica, as she continued with her retelling of this day's events,

"I just hope nobody at school figures out I'm the one who ruined all of those ice sculptures in that contest with my powers. It's not like I did it on purpose, I actually thought those ice-sculptures were kinda cool. But it won't matter once word gets out, everyone'll probably be too busy talking about how I'm the school's new mutie-freak. No one's going to want to have anything to do me, not even Chuckie Belson. But who am I kidding, a gorgeous guy like Chuckie would never go for a fat girl like me anyways." Angelica said, although one might certainly question her self-assertion regarding her own weight.

As she finished with her hair, Angelica laid her brush down on the nightstand next to her bed and picked Pumpkin up into her arms. The two of them sat at the foot of her bed together, as Angelica gently stroked Pumpkin on the back of his neck and talked to him. She felt as though Pumpkin was the only friend that she had left in the world, and that she could still count on.

"Then there are those other mean girls at school that don't like me, just wait 'til they find out I'm a mutant, they're gonna have a field day. I mean, it's not like I haven't tried a buncha times to be friends with them, ever since we moved here and I started at West Morris High. But, just because I don't fit in with them and the other popular kids at school, Cassie and her group've made it some kinda personal mission of theirs to make my life completely miserable."

With Pumpkin still in her arms, Angelica then got up from her bed and walked over to her bedroom window, now looking out onto a street that was, for the most part, empty at this time of night.

"I wish Grandma was here, so I could talk to her about all of this. She would tell me what I should do." Angelica continued, as she then shifted Pumpkin over to her right arm and opened up her left hand, looking down at her palm, "Only Nana could make me feel better by saying that I was special, and telling me it was because I had this 'M' mark in my hand. Even though I found out from Cassie later on that I was a total idiot to believe that, because EVERYBODY has an M marked in their hand.

Still, I miss Nana so much. Things've been so sad around here ever since she died. On top of that, Dad's been in such a bad mood lately, and I don't want to bother him with any of this. I know it's because of everything that happened with Nana, and because he's been out of work for a couple of months now. The closer it gets to Christmas, the grouchier he seems to get. But, I don't mind too much that he won't be able to afford very many presents this year, all I really want is for us to just stay together."

Then, Angelica's thoughts drifted right back to that one big secret that she'd been hiding.

"That's why I can't tell Dad about me being a mutant, but I don't know how much longer I can hide it. Everyday, these powers keep getting stronger and stronger, and it's getting harder for me to keep them under control. I'm just so scared that one day real soon, something really bad is going to happen because of them."

Angelica then closed her eyes, and asked the very question that other individuals in her position had also pondered.

"God, I didn't ask to be born this way, or to even have these crazy powers. I hate being different, being a mutant. And, sometimes, I hate myself because of it all."

As Angelica stood by her bedroom window, now slightly misty-eyed, she held Pumpkin closely to her and tried figure out just how she was going to deal with all of this.

"Oh Pumpkin, what am I gonna do?" Angelica said, as she then kissed Pumpkin on his forehead, and continued to stare out of her window.

In a contemplative pose, she and Pumpkin watched together as the snow, which had been brought in by a stationary weather pattern, continued to slowly fall outside and covered everything in its camouflaging tranquility.

**…………………………………**

Story 14- Hidden Agendas

Location: _Camp Hayden, Kentucky_.

It is here that Project Wideawake, the covert government-sponsored research program that had originally been established to gain a better understanding of the mutant phenomenon and of super-powered beings in general, has now been relocated. This was after the shocking turn of events in which the Sentinels, giant robotic constructs built for the express purpose of hunting down mutants, had sought to achieve their chief goal by taking the President of the United States hostage, and then attempting to institute a state of martial-law worldwide, with their leader Mastermold as its new supreme ruler.

After numerous closed-door hearings, which included representatives from the CIA, FBI, members of the National Security Council, and even a few high-ranking agents from SHIELD had all assembled within the halls of the U.S. Congress, a Senate investigational panel assigned to look into the matter had concluded in their report that the blame for the Sentinel fiasco ultimately lay with Project Wideawake's previous director, Dr. Stephen Lang.

The panel's final determination was that the Sentinel's were merely following the overall directives put into their programming by Lang, whom they deemed had been more preoccupied with pursuing his own personal agenda, than he was with holding the nation's security as his top priority. Still, it was the recommendation of the panel that the government's active participation in the Sentinel program be severely scaled back.

Which, is where wealthy and powerful defense contractor Sebastian Shaw came into the picture.

If it was true that Anthony 'Tony' Stark, the billionaire CEO of Stark Enterprises, had no equal either in the business world or in the field of technological innovations, then Sebastian Shaw would be amongst the handful of individuals that could be considered running a close second behind him.

"…I still must say, it came as a total surprise to me when I learned through various channels that the government wasn't completely scrapping its Sentinel initiative, and was instead looking to move it into the private sector." Sebastian Shaw said, as he walked through the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility now being constructed by Shaw Industries underneath Camp Hayden.

As he continued through the vast complex, Sebastian Shaw did so dressed in an expensive black business suit, which was accessorized by a white dress shirt and dark purple tie. If one knew Sebastian Shaw beyond a merely casual association, they would know that his graying temples and coal-hued pupils cloaked a fire within him. It was one that had burned inside since his youth, and his was an appetite that sought nothing less than power on its grandest of scales.

"You shouldn't be surprised. Although, their attempted takeover definitely opened our eyes as to how dangerous the Sentinels can be, any weapon can be dangerous if placed in the wrong hands. The final decision made by the President himself was that total abandonment would be premature." Dr. Valerie Cooper, the blonde Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor of the President of the United States, and now the newly appointed director of Project Wideawake replied, as she walked alongside Shaw in this unfinished underground labyrinth, dressed in a dark-blue skirt suit that came just above her knee.

"The Sentinels still serve a vital role in opposing the super-powered threats that we face. These new Sentinels are being built as a precaution, a backup plan in the event that this experiment with the Avengers ultimately doesn't work out. And this time, there will be substantially more oversight when it comes to the Sentinels use and their deployment." Dr. Cooper said as they continued on.

"Should such unfortunate circumstances arise, where they are once again needed." Donald Pierce, the third and final member of this trio forebodingly added, as he walked alongside Shaw and Cooper on the pathway, which wound its way through the main manufacturing hub and had protective steel railing on both sides of it. Pierce had on an impeccable suit that consisted of an ivory-colored jacket and slate-gray pants, which almost matched the bluish-gray color of his enigmatic eyes.

As the trio reached an exit shaft that ran back up to the ground level, Dr. Cooper spoke to both men once again.

"One of my liaisons with the defense department will be contacting you within the week. Both, to get a more detailed status report of the progress that you've made, and to schedule a formal meeting with you, myself, and Defense Secretary Martin.' Dr. Cooper said, as she stepped into the elevator shaft and the protective barrier closed, her green eyes now trained on Shaw and Pierce while she waited for the steel platform to usher her back topside.

"Until then." Shaw responded with a partial-smile, as he and Pierce watched Dr. Cooper make her leave.

Now alone, these two men were left to openly discuss other pressing business between them, which had as much to do with the Sentinel factory being built underneath Camp Hayden, as it did with other ulterior and far more dangerous motives that were at play.

"You've taken a great risk by involving yourself, by involving all of us, in this." Pierce said, as he stood facing Shaw and leaned back against the waist-high railing behind him, which had been constructed from thick steel piping.

"The greater the risk, so much greater the reward." Shaw replied, this time with a wider and more ominous grin, as he came and stood next to Pierce and looked out onto the floor of the assembly plant below them.

"I wonder if the rest of the Inner Circle will agree with you, and with your taking such an ambitious course of action without first consulting them?" Pierce curiously inquired, with one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Acquiring access to valuable resources, such as the Sentinels for instance, is for the overall benefit of the Inner Circle. As the Circle's Black King, I believe that affords me license enough to act when such an opportunity to expand our power base presents itself. It is a responsibility that we all owe to the Circle, and it is what we've pledged to one another in our sacred oath. Frost and Leland will certainly understand that concept." Shaw explained to Pierce, who himself held the title of White Bishop within the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club.

"And what of Magneto? Your procurement of the Sentinels will assuredly not sit well with him, nor will your contention of there being a preeminent kingship amongst us. Unless of course, that black or white crown were to one day rest with him." Pierce goadingly asked, this time with a wide smile of his own, as he knew that the very mention of Magneto's name could ignite the unmistakable hostility that Shaw felt towards the Master of Magnetism.

"Oh, I intend to make certain that Magneto comprehends that and more. Should such a confrontation ever become necessary, he will know his place and will understand beyond any shadow of a doubt just who the real king is!" Shaw boisterously replied, "Just make certain that everything is in order in regards to the Sentinels' and their new programming, and that they will serve their new master without question."

"With my vast expertise in the field of advanced cybernetics, I think that I am more than up to the task." Pierce stated, as he held his right hand out in front of him, opening and closing it with an almost eerie, mechanized precision.

"Good. If you'll excuse me, I need to get in touch with Tessa regarding some other personal business that requires tending to." Shaw said, as turned in a direction heading towards the nerve center of the underground complex.

Shaw then confidently strode off ahead Pierce to continue his inspection of the Sentinel assembly plant being built under Camp Hayden, which was created in place of having an actual Mastermold to churn out Sentinels. This underground manufacturing plant being constructed by Shaw Industries was at the forefront of innovative design, and was capable of rivaling any production method that had been developed in Detroit during its heyday.

Meanwhile, Pierce stayed behind, turning and looking out onto the vast production floor, now in a state of solitary rumination.

"Yes, my dear Black King, once I have finished with the Sentinels, they will indeed know who their one true master is." Pierce smiled and thought to himself, as he had always fancied himself a bit of a king as well, even if he was one merely in waiting.

For the time being…

**…………………………………**

Story 15- Piano in the Dark (flashback)

**…………………………………**

(A/N: This story takes place during A Force To Be Reckoned With.)

_"…be back with more on the controversy surrounding International superstar Alison Blaire right after these--"_

-Click-

_"…seen in this video-clip footage from her most recent concert in Madison Square Garden, in which recently escaped felon Frederick Dukes, also known as The Blob, and another unidentified teenage mutant were involved in the ensuing melee. But in any case, there's no doubt about--"_

-Click-

_"…Opinion seems to be sharply divided on the issue, but there have already been anti-Allison Blaire rallies planned across the country. One such planned demonstration by the Friends of Humanity reportedly includes a public CD demoliti--"_

-Click-

_"…I couldn't believe it when I saw this blinding, flash of light that came right out of her hands and--"_

-Click-

_"…unsure of how this will impact sales of her most recent album release, Miss You Forever--"_

-Click-

_"…recent events serve to further solidify the point that the Friends of Humanity have been trying to make, for some time now. Mutants are everywhere, and we still have no way of identifying them. We cannot allow these 'genetically challenged' individuals to continue to pose as harmless entertainers or sports figures, all the while brainwashing our children into believing their propaganda of mutant superiority. That is why the Friends of Humanity have given their full endorsement to Senatorial candidate Graydon Creed, as well as other candidates with similarly responsible viewpoi--"_

-Click-

_"…less than notable, films. Even the mixed reviews that she received didn't seem to affect her status as America's, and the World's, sweetheart. But, the recent revelation that she is a mutant has sent a shockwave across both the entertainment and political spheres. Here is a reaction from one of her teenaged fans, upon hearing the news…"_

_"I can't believe she lied and pretended to be something she wasn't. I mean, Alison Blaire acted like she was this totally normal person, but now we find out she's just a big freak. I'm never gonna buy another one of her records, or go see one of her stupid movi--"_

-Click-

_"…should pass that Registration-Act and round up all o' these muties, this Blaire-chick included--"_

Backlash, pure and simple.

As one of the top entertainers in the world, Alison Blaire had spanned the globe more than a dozen times over, and believed that she had seen it all. But, nothing in her lifetime or in those travels could have prepared her for the reactions that she was drawing, many of which bordered on pure-hatred. It was all because the rest of the world now knew the secret that she had closely guarded since she was a teenager.

It had been revealed that Alison Blaire, pop megastar and media darling was in fact a mutant, and that revelation had instantly made her the most recognizable x-positive individual on the planet.

"Mutant. That's all people see now, that's all I'm ever going to be to them from now on." Alison thought to herself, as she sat alone on the bed in her new accommodations at the Xavier School for the Gifted in Westchester County, New York, with the time slowly drawing towards midnight.

Just about twenty-four hours had passed since Alison had been on the receiving end of an abrupt rescue, courtesy of the X-Men. It was in the violent aftermath that had seen the X-Men take on masked gunmen outside of Alison's apartment, who had been sent to kill her. After thwarting the mercenaries' attempt, the X-Men proceeded to bring Alison from the apartment in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York City, which she had been hiding out in for the last week, back to Westchester.

Alison now sat up on her unmade bed in the darkened room, wearing a beautiful and exotic batik print robe that had been borrowed from another weather-manipulating resident who was away from the school and was currently out of the country. Having locked herself away in her new bedroom at the mansion, Alison had spent her time here thus far watching TV almost non-stop. As she watched report after report, it seemed as though on the majority of them that she had now been reduced to nothing more than a soundbyte.

Now Alison Blaire was just a name, only to be rolled out whenever a heated debate amongst self-righteous pundits on the 24-hour cable news cycle needed to be sparked. She hadn't asked for any of this, however, for the mutant powers or for the public scrutiny that came along with having them. The worst fears that Alison had always harbored about what would happen if others ever uncovered the truth about her had become her reality, her living nightmare, and it was enough to make her heart break.

But, it wasn't really because of the sudden loss of fame (of the positive variety) or the money. Alison was brokenhearted because she realized that she could no longer do the one thing in life that she truly loved. All she had ever wanted to do was to sing, to try and make her audience feel the same sense of elation listening to her music that she certainly felt while she was performing. But, with all of this fallout raining down around her, it seemed very unlikely to Alison that she would ever get the chance to know that kind of exhilaration again.

As she continued switching channels, Alison stopped when she suddenly saw a familiar face on the TV. But, he wasn't coming on to speak out in her defense, rather it couldn't be further from the truth.

-Click-

_"…and now, we have this video statement received moments ago from Eric Beale, the president of Beale Entertainment, Alison's record company. In addition to making her a music superstar, Beale Entertainment has also provided the majority of financing in her acting endeavors, even helping to obtain a distribution deal for Alison's first movie, titled Crossing Points."_

(Camera cuts to a shot of Eric Beale, a middle-aged man with dark-colored hair and wearing a brown suit and tie who was sitting behind a large, wooden desk in his company's Los Angeles offices.)

_"While those of us here at Beale Entertainment were completely unaware of Miss Blaire's mutant status, we were nonetheless as shocked and appalled as the rest of the public by this discovery. Therefore, it is with recommendations given to me by Beale Entertainment's board of directors and by its majority stockholders that we exercise our moral's clause in Alison Blaire's contract with Beale Entertainment. From this point forward, any and all pre-existing contractual obligations between Alison Blaire and Beale Entertainment have been severed, are now to be considered null and void. _

_Further, any consumer wishing to obtain a full refund for any of Alison Blaire's CD's or video products, may obtain one by returning the items to most major retail chains, or by simply mailing the item back to Beale Entertainment for reimbursement…"_

-Click-

"C'mon Eric, like you'd know the first thing about morals!" Alison angrily shouted at the TV, as she sat on the bed with her legs tucked comfortably underneath her, "It's not like you had to worry about puttin' out anymore of my records, my career's just about as dead as it gets. Then again, it's just more evidence the shit really has hit the fan, when a tightwad like you offers to come up offa your cold, hard cash just to cater to the muta-phobic crowd."

After she had turned the television channel away from Eric Beale's press statement, it took a few minutes but Alison managed to calm herself down and let a deep sigh.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The way people are carryin' on, you'd think they found out I was a mass-murderer or some other kind of monster." Alison continued with her self-observation, as she held the remote in her hand and flipped from one channel to the next, "But, that's exactly what they think mutants are. To them, we're nothing but monsters, freaks, not really even human beings in their eyes."

Then, Alison couldn't help it as she began to laugh bitterly at what she saw as the irony of it all.

"Human…like I even know what that means anymore."

Then just as suddenly, Alison's laughter quickly turned to tears at the realization of it all, and at her new status as a social pariah. After watching story after story on TV that did nothing but trash her reputation, Alison felt as though the whole world had abandoned her.

Right then, she heard a loud knock at her bedroom door. As she got up from her bed to answer it, Alison was about to be reminded that she wasn't nearly as alone in the world as she may have wanted to believe.

"Alison, may I come in and talk for a moment?" Dr. Henry McCoy, an original founding member of the X-Men as the scholarly Beast, and now the man who was currently filling in as the school's interim Headmaster asked Alison, doing so from the other side of the door.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this." Alison sarcastically said, as she had now come and opened the door for him, after getting up from the bed and re-wrapping the borrowed robe securely around herself.

Alison was referring to how her first meeting with the X-Men had occurred the night before, in which she had met them at the door of her apartment. Then, just as now, she had appeared in front of them wearing a house robe and with her crimson-dyed hair in a slightly unkempt state.

"I only dropped by at this, a rather indecorous hour, because we've all been so concerned about you." Hank told her, as he stood in the doorway.

Hank was wearing a dark-khaki dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up on them, pants of a similar shade, and had on his rather large feet a pair of size-17 EEEEE loafers that been especially made to accommodate them. Hank then nervously ran his right hand through his neatly combed back jet-black hair, his blue eyes looking through his eyeglasses right into Alison's.

"Well, I appreciate everyone worrying, but you guys don't have to." Alison replied to his statement, as she turned to head back into her room, her body language delivering an informal invitation for Hank to join her, "It's like I told Kurt when he came by earlier, I just want to be left alone."

"And we have done that, for most of today and this evening. I understand your desire to simply forget about all of the negative attention that you've been receiving as of late, but locking yourself in here and shutting yourself off from everyone else won't solve anything." Hank said, as he closed her bedroom door behind him and stood leaning against a wall close by, "Things may look very bleak at the moment, but these tribulations will eventually pass. It won't be the end of the world."

"Hate to rain on your little pep-talk, but that's exactly what it is, at least for my world." Alison replied, as she slumped back down on her bed, tucking her legs back underneath her, "How would you feel if all of a sudden you couldn't walk down the street without someone pointing and shouting 'Hey, there goes that weird mutie, let's see if her powers'll help her dodge this huge brick when I chunk it at her'. 'Cause that's what my life's turned into lately, and I don't need you comin' in here patronizing me and trying to tell me how great it is!"

As she was talking, Hank's eyes had quickly begun to adjust to the lack of light in her bedroom. He could now see in the light reflecting off the TV that her eyes were red from crying, and her face slightly raw from wiping those tears away.

"You can still walk around without the whole world knowing you're a mutant, but I don't have that luxury anymore. On top of that, I've got to deal with those thugs from the Hellfire Club that I'm sure were behind all of this, and are now tryin' to kill me." Alison semi-shouted, as she looked up at Hank from the bed and continued venting, "So, the next time you want to come in here and lecture me about how I should just learn to accept this whole being a mutant thing, just remember that I'm the one who's life has been ruined because of it!"

"I will." Hank responded, as he came and gently sat down on the bed next to her, "I will also share with you the tale of how my wife and I are barely on speaking terms. And would you like to know why our marriage is on the rocks? It's because she is so terrified of both humans AND mutants doing something to us, just because we both happen to be of the mutatis-persuasion."

"But, if you don't find that to be a good example, then perhaps I can also regale you with some of the horror stories relayed to me from Kurt regarding his childhood." Hank continued, as he took his glasses off and continued, "Or better yet, Kurt can tell you himself about what it was like for him growing up, spending everyday of his life looking completely different from those around him. Or, he can tell you about how his mere presence would sometimes ignite riots in the small towns where his traveling circus would stop and perform. Or about the deep hurt that he always felt inside when people, children especially, would either run away from him in fear or faint at the very sight of a monster amongst them."

It was in that moment that Alison remembered what happened when she first saw Kurt. Despite the fact that he had teleported into her apartment under a hail of bullets to help save her, she too had fainted at the very sight of him, and it was an embarrassment that now cut right through her.

"Miss Blaire, I don't say any of this to belittle the severity or authenticity of the hurt that you are feeling, but you don't have the market cornered in pain." Hank told her and then paused for a moment. He then looked over at Alison sitting next to him on the bed, taking her smaller hand into his significantly larger one and continued,

"But this school, and the spirit in which it was founded, seeks not to turn it into a receptacle of anguish. Professor Xavier had envisioned this place as a sanctuary, a place where we could come to grips within the safety of its confines with what it is that makes us different, and what it is that makes us who we are. It is from that acceptance that he dreamt that we might begin the process of building a brand new world, a world where the various differences that we use to separate ourselves would one day be embraced by all. It is a world that I hope you will choose to join us in helping to realize, because we could desperately use someone in it that possesses your strength, talents and beauty, both inside and out."

"And what if I don't have that strength? What if I'm just not strong enough to fight anymore, for this new world, for this Professor Xavier's dream, or for anything else period?" Alison inquired.

"It would be a shame then, Alison." Hank told her, as he then stood up from the bed, looking back down at her and putting his glasses back on, "Because I didn't take you to be a quitter."

With that, Hank quietly made his leave from the room, having given Alison quite a few things to think about, as she now had to decide where her life was going to go from here, and whether or not she would allow these unfortunate circumstances of the passing moment to dictate the course of the rest of said life.

Meanwhile, outside…

"Well, Professor, only time will tell if I was truly able to effect a difference." Hank stood in the hallway and thought to himself, "Even though you've left your school in my ministration during your leave of absence, you've also left behind some rather large shoes to fill."

Then, Hank began to smile widely to himself.

"Which is turning out to be quite a challenge, even with my considerable lower extremities." Hank finished his thought, as he then continued on down the hallway and left the girls' wing of the upstairs living quarters.

**……………………………………….**

The Next Morning…

_"…are still no new leads into the disturbance in the section of the city known as Hell's Kitchen the other night. Without any credible eyewitnesses, all police have to go on are rumors of machine guns being fired, and of the masked vigilante named Daredevil being seen in the vicinity as well--"_

"And no mention of yours truly. What does a man have to do to get a little attention around here?" Kurt Wagner smiled and sarcastically asked aloud, as he and a few of the other residents either sat or were standing in the living room of the mansion in front of the large screen TV, "Daredevil was not the one who taught those dastardly curs a lesson."

"Yeah 'Crawler, but like after all the MAJOR attention you got when you gate-crashed the White House last year, maybe you need to learn to dig bein' camera-deprived for a while." Jubilee replied to his rhetorical inquiry, as she sat on the sofa next to where Kurt was perched.

"Don't worry Kurt. Take it from an expert, I think the camera would love you." A voice now said to the group, as she had come down the cascading staircase and was now walking into the living room to join them.

"Alison, it is a wonderful surprise to see you down here." Hank said, as he was standing close to the sofa, when they all turned around to see Alison enter.

Alison was dressed in one of the school's gray t-shirts that she had greatly altered, having cut off its bottom portion to expose her bare mid-riff, and she was also wearing a matching pair of gray sweats, which had now been turned into a pair of tight-fitting cut-off shorts.

"Well, the recluse-routine was starting to get a little old." Alison actually grinned and replied, as she came over and stood with Hank, Kurt, Jubilee, and Roberto Da Costa by the sofa, "And I see I'm still making the news, even if they don't know that disturbance had to do with me."

"Ah _Fraulein_, a lovely vision such as yourself cannot help but to inevitably attract watchful eyes." Kurt playfully flirted with Alison.

"And you're not lookin' so bad yourself today, either." Alison lightly replied to his comment.

Which Hank found extraordinary, having now seen with his own two eyes that Alison had done a complete 180, and was now in much higher spirits. He wondered to himself whether this upbeat woman before him was that same person, whom he had previously spoken to and who seemed to be on the verge of a total breakdown the night before.

"It appears that you are undoubtedly feeling much better today." Hank now remarked to Alison.

"A ton better." Alison replied, as she then turned and headed towards the other side of the living room, " I'm goin' to the kitchen, anyone wanna join me?"

"I will meet you there." Kurt quickly responded, as a loud 'BAMF!' and a soon vanishing smokescreen signaled his departure out of the room.

"I will also be along shortly, once this news report has concluded." Hank replied, as he turned back towards the TV.

As Alison proceeded out of the room, now with a noticeable stride of confidence, Hank could distinctly hear her softly singing a song on her way down the corridor.

_"Don't you know I'm still standing, _

_better than I ever did_

_Looking like a true survivor…" _

Which he instantly recognized as an Elton John number. And, Hank thought it to be a very befitting and hopefully encouraging choice for her, considering everything that she had endured recently.

**………………………………………**

Story 16- New Arrival

_"All members of the school's junior squad are to now report to the mansion's front entrance at once…"_

With the telepathic order given, Professor Xavier had summoned the younger students at his School for the Gifted in Westchester County, drawing them out from its various areas to its first floor foyer. A short time later, Mirage, Sunspot, Siryn, Warpath, Magma, Rictor, Circuit, Multiple Kid, Wolfsbane, and Cannonball had all gathered in that sizable area that sat between the front door and the large, spiraling staircase in the mansion.

"Wonder what's so important that the Professor'd go and mind-slap us to get our attention?" James Proudstar asked, as he stood with his junior squad teammates, all of them awaiting an answer to that mystery.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Jones Davidson replied, as the youngest member of the junior squad took a seat at the base of the staircase.

And within a few minutes an explanation drew near, as Professor Xavier, Ororo Munroe, and a third new and unfamiliar face came down the hallway towards them, approaching from the direction where the mansion's elevator was located.

"Students, I would like to introduce you to the young lady standing next to me." Professor Xavier said, as he presented the new girl standing next to him, who appeared that she couldn't be any more than fifteen or sixteen years old, "Her name is Carmella Unuscione, and she will be your newest classmate. I trust that you will do your best to make her feel welcome here."

Carmella had shoulder-length and slightly curly hair, which was of a very dark chocolate-brown shade, and had eyes to match. She was dressed in a simple blue top and a pair of tight fitting jeans on her athletic five-foot, eight-inch frame.

"Nice t'meet ya, my name is Sam." Sam Guthrie said, as one of the junior squad's leaders was the first to come over and introduce himself. But, while Sam extended his hand out as a friendly gesture, Carmella didn't respond anywhere near in kind.

"Professor, can I go up to my room?" Carmella turned and asked him in a fairly impassive tone.

"Certainly. Amara, will you show our new guest around upstairs?" Professor Xavier requested of her, as Sam slowly pulled his hand back.

"Um, sure Professor." Amara replied, as she went with Carmella. The two of them passed Jones as they went up the staircase towards the girls' wing, with Carmella toting a moderate-sized bag slung across her right shoulder.

With formal introductions now brought to a screeching and abrupt halt, Professor Xavier and Ororo excused themselves as well, heading back down the hallway towards his study.

"Man, as chilly as it got in there, you'd think Bobby was responsible." Rictor said to Sam, as the remaining juniors' now walked back to the living room together.

"She seems like a snob and a half." Theresa remarked to the group.

"Maybe she's just shy, is all?" Rahne Sinclair speculated, as it was a feeling that she was very much familiar with.

"Well, if anyone's qualified to warm her up to this place, it'd be Amara." Roberto humorously added, as the group took their seats in the living room, and were soon very engrossed in a debate about what they would watch on TV this afternoon.

Meanwhile, as Ororo and the Professor continued on their way to his study, they were very much engaged in a conversation of their own.

"Were you able to gather any additional information from Carmella?" Professor Xavier inquired, as he wheeled down the corridor alongside Ororo.

"Not much. She barely said anything at all on the plane ride back here." Ororo replied.

"I could sense a great deal of pain and anger inside of her. Which is not unlike another young lady, whom I had the pleasure of first bringing to this school some time ago." Professor Xavier smiled, as they reached his study and proceeded inside, "With that said, perhaps you might be best equipped in reaching out to her."

"In time." Ororo told him, as she closed the study's door behind them, "I believe that for now we should allow her the opportunity to acclimate herself to her new surroundings."

Then, Ororo brought up another point that had been on her mind regarding the school's newest student.

"Should we tell the other students, particularly the members of the senior student squad, what we suspect regarding Carmella?" Ororo asked, as she took a seat in a solid wooden chair in the study.

"Until we can confirm those details, and have had the chance to discuss them with Carmella herself, I believe it best that we keep it between us, Scott, and Kurt for the time being." Professor Xavier responded, as his wheelchair came to a rest right next to his desk in there.

He and Ororo both continued with their conversation, discussing possible aspects of Carmella's life and her past, which even the young girl had not yet been made aware of.

**……………………………….**

Next Chapter: A Hero's journey to Muir Island…

**……………………………….**

A/N: Special thanks for last chapter's reviews-

**ishandahalf**- Glad you seemed to thoroughly enjoy Kitty's teaching Lockheed the ways of the Force. I think the problem with the prequels was that (at least with the first two) it didn't really get good until the last 30-45 minutes.

(And also because of the lack of Han Solo, or just another fairly shady character who's willing to kick a little ass every now and then, when it benefits himself of course.)

I also hoped the Gambit vs. Iceman showdown in this chapter lived up to expectations.

**El Varon**- Glad you liked the last chapter, and my finding a fancy way of describing 'Hulk Smash!'

P.S.- If you enjoyed the brief mention of the Avengers in the last chapter, then I think you'll really get a kick out of the very special guest appearance coming up in chapter 7.

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked most everything in the last chapter, and it seems like I was even able to surprise you a little with the Bobby/Rogue story. I'd like to say there'll be no more surprises like that in future stories.

yeah, I'd like to say that…

**TheDreamerLady**- Well, if supportively wasn't a word before, it is one now thanks to yours truly. Yeah, 'indubitably'. (The big words just keep fallin' offa the tree left and right.)

It also sounds like you've been guilty of D.W.R., Drowsy While Reading. Which the Suregeon General warns can cause you to read things, and then not remember them the next morning.

Anyways, enough silliness. I'm just glad you liked things, and I hope you continue to.

P.S.- I think the word you're looking for is 'snuck', because 'sneakeded' or 'snoke' just doesn't work.

**Cyke916**- Sorry things in this fic haven't quite been your cup of tea.


	7. Stories 17, 18, and 19

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**………………………………………….**

Story 17- Here Cometh A Living Legend

Location: _Muir Island, Scotland_

Scant miles away from Scotland's northern-most coast sits this moderately sized landmass, which located right off of the Scottish mainland is west of an area known as Cape Wrath. Muir Island is best known for being home to the world's foremost research facility in the field of mutant genetics, which Dr. Moira MacTaggert has spent a good portion of her life building it into. With its geography consisting of a mixture of lush, rolling green hills and jagged rocky cliffs, Muir Island is also a beautiful sight to behold in its early pre-dusk hours, in the off-chance that the sun manages to peer through its usually foggy and overcast weather. But, the fact that this day had brought a cloudless, clear afternoon was not the most unusual sight to be seen on the island.

Currently approaching the island on its slowly dimming horizon was a remarkable, and almost futuristic appearing aircraft. Further inspection would reveal this vehicle to be a Quinjet, a mid-sized, experimental vehicle recently put into limited production by Stark Enterprises. A small fleet of Quinjets, which were capable of easily traveling at super-sonic speeds, had been donated to the Avengers by Stark Enterprises for their exclusive use. Uses, which included shuttling the newly assembled band of superheroes to locales worldwide, and taking them from their base of operations in New York City to such far off destinations as Muir Island, for example.

As this Quinjet activated its vertical thrusters and began its descent onto Muir Island, doing so in an open clearing not very far from the island's main complex, a stoic figure soon emerged from within the craft and started down the plane's exit ramp. Dressed in a one-of-a-kind red, white, and blue outfit, this noble voyager could only be the fabled Captain America.

Aside from the blue helmet-shaped mask with a giant white 'A' on the front of it, which covered his face and most of his head and that was securely maintained with a leather strap running underneath his chin, Captain America's star-spangled attire was also accessorized by a large round shield that had a giant star embossed in the center of it, which was strapped to his back. As this old soldier, who had himself participated first-hand in many a dangerous mission during his time approached the research complex's entrance, he was unknowingly about to walk smack-dab into a warzone of a decidedly different nature.

"But Mom, why can't I go outside?" Seven year-old Megan McCoy begged, as the curly-haired young girl looked up at her mother.

"You can go outside, but only after you've finished your school lessons for the day." Wanda Maximoff-McCoy replied, as the mother and daughter stood together in the main laboratory of Dr. MacTaggert's research complex, the two of them now engaged in a test of wills.

"Aww, I never get to do annyyythiing…" Megan whined in disappointment.

"What did you say, young lady?" Wanda sternly asked, as she had turned her attention to the repair work on analysis equipment in the laboratory that her husband and her brother were currently occupied with, but now quickly turned back around to respond to her daughter.

"Nuthin'." Megan now mumbled, as she quickly folded her arms out in front of her and was about to stomp off back into the section of the complex that housed Muir Island's living quarters, when all of a sudden the facility's security alarms went off after detecting a new presence on the island.

"Well, it appears that the security system, which Forge devised and installed before his departure back home, is functioning splendidly." Dr. Henry McCoy stated, as he came over to cue up a visual image from the island's surveillance system on a nearby computer terminal.

"Too bad that it didn't bother to detect this intruder, until after his craft had landed. Stranger still that we weren't alerted of this plane's approach to begin with." Pietro Maximoff added, as his mutant powers had allowed him to instantaneously make his way from the other side of the lab and over to the monitor where Hank was standing in front of, as the surveillance camera zoomed in closer onto the approaching visitor.

"If that's who I'm thinkin' it is, then I have t'wonder what it is that's brought him t'our neck of the woods?" Sean Cassidy asked, as he had also come over to join Hank and Pietro in front of the monitor, and the three men then immediately recognized the individual on camera.

"Whatever's brought him here, it'd be rude of us t'let the automated defense systems begin takin' shots at him." Dr. Moira MacTaggert stated, as she had hurried back into the main lab from an auxiliary storage room close y upon hearing the alarms going off, and now also saw that it was indeed Captain America there on Muir Island. Moira then proceeded to type in codes on the terminal to deactivate the weapons defense system, which Captain America's arrival had triggered.

The muscular Agent of Liberty continued on into the complex, following the invitation presented to him at its main entrance by Dr. MacTaggert via the research facility's video-intercom system. And soon, Captain America was met by the sight of the six other individuals inside, who were all currently occupying the main laboratory.

"And t'what do we owe a distinguished gentleman like yuirself payin' us a visit?" Dr. MacTaggert humorously inquired of Captain America, as she removed her glasses and swept her right hand through her reddish-brown hair. Cap looked at Dr. MacTaggert and saw that she was wearing a yellow and purple trimmed outfit, complete with her customary white lab coat over it.

"After attending a debriefing following our battle against the Sentinels, I learned about the destruction that they had caused when they attacked Muir Island and kidnapped you, Doctor MacTaggert. I had come here on behalf of Tony Stark to offer any assistance that he, or the Avengers, might be able to provide in helping you to rebuild your research facility. But from the looks of things, it appears that you have things well under control." Captain America replied to Dr. MacTaggert, as it was his turn to recognize a few familiar faces, starting with two individuals in there that he had just weeks ago fought alongside in their battle to stop the Sentinels, "Beast, Quicksilver, it's nice to see you again."

"What, no warm 'how-do-ye-do' for me?" Sean now jokingly posed to him.

"Banshee, it has been awhile. I'm really surprised to find you here, since I would think you'd be off somewhere hot on the trail of whoever's currently at the top of Interpol's most wanted list." Cap replied, as he placed one of his cardinal-red leather boots up on an empty wooden crate in front of him, which some new equipment had arrived in. He then noticed that Sean, Hank, and Pietro were each dressed in navy blue work jumpsuits, which they were donning as they finished the last phases of their repair work on the damages to the facility that had been caused by the Sentinels during their previous attack on Muir Island.

"I hate t'break it t'ye, but me days as a globe-spannin' detective were put behind me some time ago." Sean told him, as the middle-aged man with slightly graying blondish-red hair leaned back against one of the new pieces of computer equipment in the expansive laboratory area.

Sean was of course referring to his career in international law enforcement, which he had dedicated a majority of his life to. It was a career that had led him to cross paths with more than his fair share of notable individuals, including Captain America and eventually the X-Men.

"Since we're on the subject, it was'nae necessary for you to trouble yuirself by comin' all the way out here just to offer me your help. I'm sure that you've got far more important affairs t'be attendin' to." Dr. MacTaggert came over and said, as she now stood in front of Captain America, while another individual in the room unexpectedly made an observation of her own about him.

"Mommy, how come that man gets to dress up when it's not Halloween, but I can't?" Megan now inquired of her mother.

"From the mouths of babes!" Pietro clapped his hands in response, as the silver-haired man in his mid-to-late twenties laughed loudly at his niece's honestly-inquired question.

"You'll have all the opportunity you want to play dress up, when you get older." Wanda smiled as she came and stood behind her daughter, putting her arms around her little girl in a supportive embrace. But, Wanda couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by her daughter's question about the hero's attire, and then her twin brother's remark about it, although Megan hadn't meant any discourtesies by it.

"I don't believe that you've had the opportunity to meet my quite resplendent wife Wanda, nor my somewhat loquacious daughter Megan." Hank now said as he introduced his wife, who Cap now paid an observation to. He noticed that this woman, who had long brunette hair and clear blue eyes, was wearing an aqua long-sleeved blouse and matching pants, before looking down at the little girl standing next to her mother and saw that she was attired in a light-weight fuschia sweater and heavy cargo pants, in the event that young girl ever did manage to find a way to go outside today to experience the Scottish isle's outdoors.

"Megan, run along to the television room and I will be there in a moment." Wanda now said as she hugged her daughter, and then sent her on out of the room ahead of her.

"Now that the formal introductions are out of the way, I'm still curious as to why a man with the multitude of underlings that Stark is certain to have, would instead send you all the way across the Atlantic to deliver such a mundane message to Dr. MacTaggert?" Pietro asked Cap point-blank.

"Actually, I stopped here since I happened to be on a mission in the area. I've been trying to locate someone operating in the region, who I've been hearing quite a few things about, including a number of selfless and heroic acts." Captain America said in response to Pietro's question.

"Who're ye lookin' for? I might be able t'lend ye a hand in findin' him." Sean offered, as he was very familiar with various areas of the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, and had made a sizable number of contacts in his days with Interpol that might be of assistance.

"There's an individual who calls himself Thor, but I've been unable to confirm his exact location. I stopped here before making my way on up to Norway and then Iceland, since the majority of his sightings seem to be concentrated in those countries." Captain America explained, which drew fairly astonished looks from all of the other individuals in the room.

"You mean Thor, as in the thunder god of Norse mythos?" Hank curiously inquired.

"I'm trying to find him to see if he would be interested in becoming a member of the Avengers." Captain America told them.

"Are you recruiting for a super-hero team, or for the insane asylum?" Pietro snidely asked him.

"Pietro…" Wanda said to her brother in a semi-warning tone, although it didn't stop him with his current line of questioning.

"At any rate, how do you know that this person claiming to be Thor isn't just some delusional mental case?" Pietro continued.

"All evidence available to us suggests that he may be the real deal, especially if he can do half of the things eyewitnesses have claimed to have seen." Captain America responded.

"And you'll need all the help ye can get, particularly if all of ye intend on goin' after that Hulk monstrosity again." Sean pointed out, as the story of the Avenger's recent fight with the Hulk had made news world-wide.

"And, if you Avengers are to pick up where the Sentinels left off." Pietro unabashedly stated to Captain America.

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Captain America queried, as Pietro had finally managed to get Cap's undivided attention with this last remark.

"You believe that the rest of us can't see through all of the media spin, and through that United Nations charter nonsense, to grasp the real reason why the Avengers were created?" Pierto replied, "Which coincidentally occurred right after the U.S. government's pet project with the Sentinels failed so miserably?"

"My dearest brother-in-law, you seem to be forgetting that our friend here was instrumental in helping us to defeat the Sentinels' nefarious scheme." Hank tried to remind Pietro, but Pietro continued on unabated.

"Today you Avengers are hunting down Hulk's in the name of national security and public safety, tomorrow they'll be sending you to randomly round up all of us mutants." Pietro said, as he walked over to Captain America and looked him directly in the face while he finished clarifying his conspiratorial assertion.

Despite the fact that both Wanda and Pietro had long ago cut their familial ties with their father, some of the mistrusts that he harbored about non-mutants, and that he had subsequently drilled into his young teenage children seemed for some reason to remain with Pietro. This was in spite of the fact that Pietro would adamantly argue that his father no longer had any influence over him, and rather it was just common sense that made him feel such things. Especially, when the whole episode with the Sentinels was taken into consideration, which turned out to have been funded and built by perhaps the powerful government in the world.

"You obviously don't know a thing about me." Captain America said in response to Pietro's accusation.

"I do know that when the time comes, a good little soldier-boy like yourself will follow whatever orders are handed down to you from your superiors." Pietro rudely insulted him.

"**Pietro, that's enough**!" Wanda now loudly demanded of Pietro in a voice that was strongly tinged with the accent of their Balkan homeland, as she felt that her brother had more than had his say this afternoon.

"Well, just for your information son, what I do have is a major problem with bigots who that feel that any group of people should be persecuted based on their race, religion, or even genetics. It's the reason why I spent my early adult years fighting all over Europe, which included being dropped across the Channel onto Normandy Beach and watching as brave young men were cut down around me in a hail of bombs and bullets, all in an effort to prevent Hitler's twisted vision of his ideal world from becoming our reality. And, I sure as hell didn't go through all of that so that I could become a part of something just as bad, if not worse." Captain America emphatically expressed, and for the first time today Pietro didn't have anything to say in response.

"I am sorry if my brother offended you." Wanda now came over and said to Cap.

"There's no need to apologize, I believe that everyone should have the right to express his or her opinion, whether I might agree with it or not." Captain America replied, as he looked at Wanda and then turned his attention back to Pietro, "But, you have raised a valid point about concerns that might reside within the mutant community with respect to the Avengers' true intentions. Given all of your varied histories with the X-Men, and with mutant/human relations greatly in need of improvement, perhaps you four might consider applying for membership yourselves with the Avengers to help alleviate those fears."

"I can't speak for the others, but I'm thinkin' I'm a bit too old to go off startin' a new full-time career of super-heroin'." Sean light-heartedly remarked.

"Trust me, age is just a state of mind." Captain America smiled, as he now brought his foot down from crate where it had been positioned and prepared to take his leave, "Nevertheless the offer still stands, both in regards to you joining the Avengers, and with assistance in rebuilding your research facility, Dr. MacTaggert."

"As long as you make sure that you and these Avengers help t'keep the Stephen Lang's of the world from wreakin' havoc on the rest of us poor souls, then that'll be worth more t'me than any construction work ye can muster up." Dr. MacTaggert amiably replied from the lab chair that she had went and taken a seat in, as Sean came over and placed his hands very caressingly on the back of her shoulders.

Then, Sean, Moira, Wanda, Hank, and Pietro all watched as a living legend soon made his departure from the laboratory, so that he could continue his search for another man who might also be the stuff of legends.

And perhaps more…

**…………………………………………….**

Story 18- Alternative School Part 9, Smells Like Teen Spirit

While passing an entire summer away at school might be the last place that any student would want to spend it, summertime at Emma Frost's Massachusetts Academy was still a very tolerable experience for her unique student body. Operating on a schedule not all that different from their counterparts down at Xavier's in New York State, the students in Snow Valley also had to endure rigorous and exhaustive training sessions. Sometimes, even running full simulations up to twice a day in the Combat Room, their special training facility secretly constructed underneath the campus to help them hone their mutant abilities.

But when they weren't training, their Headmistress left the rest of her students' days free to themselves, which most of them spent the majority of at Pitman Hall inside of its huge, state-of-the-art Student Center located within.

"It's insane when you take a sec 'n think about it. It took those butt-brains who run Video Channel three tries before they figured out, if you're gonna have a network called 'Video Channel', then maybe you should actually play videos on it." Tabitha Smith declared, as she sat on a sofa in the student center and made her observation while watching a music video on Video Channel-3, with the music blaring over speakers connected to one of the two large, flat-screened TV's in there.

"With all the reality shows they put on now, you'd think they'd just rename it the Reality Channel?" Jennifer Stavros replied, as she sat with her blonde counterpart on the sofa and watched a video playing in front of them by the Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes.

"Or just plain 'Channel' would probably work as good." Tab stated, as she smiled and ran her right hand through her medium-length blonde hair, which had small rose-tinted highlights in it.

With it being summer, the two girls were dressed the part as Tabitha had on a hot pink colored tank top with black spandex tights, while Jennifer had on a sky blue cutoff tee with denim 'Daisy-Duke' shorts.

"We're lucky the student center's got a digital hook-up, since this doesn't come on basic cable." Jen pointed out, as she sat next to Tab with her legs up on the sofa, crossed over Indian-style.

"Thank you, Miss Frost." Tab now looked up towards the ceiling, and humorously said aloud.

Although she was nowhere in sight, the students at the Massachusetts Academy had long ago figured out that their Headmistress would on occasion telepathically eavesdrop on them, just to keep apprised of what was going on around her campus.

"Check out that outfit she's wearin', there's no way I'd be caught dead in somethin' like that." Jen now stated, as a new video now came on the television.

"Someone needs to tell that cow Lila Cheney to take that off." Tab commented, "Lila's such a Gwen Stefani-wannabe, tryin' to rip her style when what she needs is to go and catch herself a clue."

"If someone she's payin' actually told her wearin' that was a good idea, then they seriously need to be in the unemployment line tomorrow." Jen continued cutting on the entertainer, when something else besides the revealing outfit that Lila was wearing caught her attention, "Unless it was that guy shakin' his butt right behind her."

"I see what'cha mean. Even if I don't normally go for guys with goatees, he really knows how to rock those moves." Tab added, as the two girls watched the very-chiseled backup dancer on TV perform.

"I hope John doesn't come down here and catch you droolin' over this hottie. He just might flip out and set the TV on fire, and maybe burn down the whole student center while he's at it." Jen now turned and jokingly said to Tab.

"I doubt it. Me and John already had a nice loonnngg talk about him losin' his cool, back when he and Lance were about to seriously wreck shop up in here before." Tab humorously replied, "Besides, Hot-Shit's up in his room involved in his favorite pasttime, so we probably won't be seein' him for at least a coupl'a hours."

"Uh-huh…" Jen replied with one eyebrow raised, as she wasn't sure what 'past time' exactly that Tabitha was referring to, and she figured that she was probably better off not knowing.

Just then on the other side of the room, some of the guys were gathered in there shooting pool at the pool table, when another student, who had been involved in that near altercation with John, now boisterously made his entrance into the student center known.

"Listen up, bitches." Lance Alvers said to the guys gathered around the pool table, which consisted of Sven, Harlan, and Eric Kleinstock, Demarcus Fonseca, and Haroun al-Rashid, "Which one of you dudes wants to be first in line to get his ass schooled by the master?"

"You're pretty damn confident. Let's see if you got what it takes to back it up." Eric said, as he stepped up to accept the challenge first and forcefully tossed a cue-stick over at Lance.

"I got more than confidence to back it up, Big-bitch number 2." Lance said, as he easily caught the stick and continued with his trash-talking to the other teen.

Eric, like his two brothers, also had dark-brown hair like Lance, but the Kleinstock Brothers were much taller and had a more muscular build than him. But right then, Lance surprisingly pulled out a ten-dollar bill, laying it down on the pool table with a good amount of force behind it to underline his point.

"In that case, what do the rest of you say about a small bet?" Demarcus smiled, as the teen who had short bluish-black hair and was wearing a tan short-sleeved, button up shirt with red and green checkered stripes and dark-colored pants, now laid two five-dollar bills on the table.

"Since I assume that Sven and Harlan will put their bankrolls behind their brother, I'll also wager that Lance will wipe the floor with Eric." Haroun stated, as the young Moroccan who was wearing an outfit similar to Demarcus', but instead had on a black shirt with two white vertical stripes that went down the front, also made his bet and matched the others.

Meanwhile, Eric and his brothers were huddled together, as the triplets tried to come to a consensus on whether they could accommodate such stakes.

"We don't have that kind of cash right now." Sven now said in unison with his brothers, as he was the one who turned around from the sibling conference and spoke to the group.

Then, someone else unexpectedly came to their aid.

"Yes you do, I will cover you and match these three buffoons. If only for the sheer satisfaction of seeing the looks on their faces when Alvers' braggarts proves just how much of an American Idiot he truly is, and how they are idiots of an international sort for believing the nonsense that he spouts on a consistent basis." Manuel De La Rocha stated, as he strode into the student center. Manuel quickly pulled out thirty dollars from his pocket and then placed it on the pool table with the rest of the bills.

"Stack 'em up and rack 'em up already." Lance now told them, as balls on the table were now being arranged to begin play.

Then, as Lance and Eric took a preliminary shot to see who would break and take the first official shot of the game, Jen and Tab's attention was now trained on the group of guys gathered on the other side of the student center.

"Guys can be such macho-weenies when they put their little minds to it. Still, don't'cha think you should go over by Manuel and support your boyfriend?" Tab now said to Jen, as she pointed over at Manuel who was dressed in a maroon colored dress shirt and dark slacks, accessorized with pieces of fine jewelry on his hands and wrist, like rings and an expensive, gold custom-made wristwatch.

"Manuel's not my boyfriend." Jen stared back at Tab, folding her arms over to emphasize her clarification.

"Well, with all the time you two spend together, I just figured that there was somethin' there." Tab said, as she continued to inquire, "So, what's the story? Is he like your gay-est, best-est friend, or what?"

"We're friends, but I'm pretty sure he's not gay." Jen replied, as she giggled a little, "Although if he were, Manuel's so conceited I'm sure the only guy he'd probably ever fall in love with'd be himself."

"It's probably a good thing you two are platonic and all, since I don't think Marie-Ange would appreciate you makin' moves on her man." Tab stated, as they saw another one of their classmates, Marie-Ange Colbert enter the student center. She was dressed in a simple white, short-sleeved blouse and skirt, her medium-brown hair pulled back with a single scarf as she walked over to where the guys were at.

Meanwhile, back at the pool table…

"De La Rocha, you can hate it or you can love it, but one way or another you better figure out how to live with it. 'Cause I'm the king when it comes to handlin' a pool-cue, you 'knocker." Lance boasted, as he shot one ball right after another into the corner and the side pockets of the table.

"I merely attribute your performance so far to rotten luck, which will be running out soon enough." Manuel snidely replied, as the bad blood between him and Lance continued to run as cold as it ever did.

"Well, I guess that's why you called your shadow in, to try 'n make that happen." Lance tauntingly said, as he couldn't pass up the opportunity to point out to Manuel that a certain individual was standing a few feet behind him, "You better turn around, 'cause it looks like your ol' lady has somethin' to say to you too."

Upon slowly turning around to see Marie-Ange standing quietly behind him, and now getting very upset at having to listen to Lance now being provided with additional ammunition with which to ridicule him, Manuel very loudly acknowledged the reserved girl's presence.

"I do not know why you insist on following me around like some lost stray! **FOR THE LAST TIME, WHAT DO YOU WANT**?" Manuel angrily shouted at Marie-Ange.

This was all in spite of the fact that Manuel knew precisely why Marie-Ange would constantly follow him around the school, and why she always seemed to be somewhere close by. Thanks to his emotion-sensitive mutant powers, Manuel had known for some time that Marie-Ange had a crush on him, which she had developed shortly after her arrival at the Massachusetts Academy.

"Nothing." Marie-Ange softly replied to Manuel's hurtful inquiry, with tremendous pain evident in eyes that were on the verge of tears as she looked up at him.

Manuel's insensitive words had managed to cut very deeply, which emotionally devastated Marie-Ange. The young French-native immediately turned her gaze downward, as she quietly left the group and went over to sit by herself at one of the round tables in student center. Marie-Ange then started to lay her tarot cards out on the table, which she always had in her possession, and began reading them.

"You'd better be careful, else she might go pull out her crystal ball and put some kinda crazy curse on your ass." Lance laughed, as he continued his harassment of Manuel while landing the seven-ball on the pool table in one of the side pockets.

"Even if her powers were to afford her such a capability, at least that means that I would no longer be forced to endure your useless prattle." Manuel defiantly responded to Lance, as he slammed his right fist onto the top edge of the pool table.

Back over on the sofa…

"I know it's her powers and all, but it's way too freaky how Tarot's always obsessin' over those voodoo cards of hers." Tab said, as both she and Jen had watched the exchange between Manuel and Marie-Ange, and then saw as Marie-Ange went and sat at the table to search for answers in her cards that weren't exactly forthcoming.

Then, the two girls quickly went back to their previous conversation.

"Anyways, so if it's not Manuel, then who do you like around here?" Tab now continued with her probing.

To which, Jennifer looked over at the pool table, her eyes riveted for a moment not on Manuel, but on a certain resident bad-boy who was donning a sleeveless denim vest over a simple black t-shirt, had on a pair of faded denim jeans and a pair of black leather gloves that had the finger holes cut out of them, and who was currently on a tear as he intended to prove that his skills at pool were as formidable as he had promised. Jennifer had felt an attraction towards him, an inexplicable connection with him, which seemed to irresistibly draw her into him.

"Well…" Jen smiled, as she was about to answer. But right then another classmate, who all of this time had been quietly sitting by herself in the student center, came up and unknowingly interrupted Jen's announcement.

"Hi guys." Angelica Jones said, as the redhead came over in front of the TV, standing in between it and Tabitha & Jennifer, "What happened? I wasn't really paying attention since I was so involved in the book I was reading, but I couldn't help but look up when I heard Manuel over there yelling. I wonder what made him so--"

"Um, yeah 'Question'-star. So, is your perfectly bad-timin' a new part of your powers, or is it somethin' you just gotta work at it?" Tab interrupted her, as she looked up from the sofa and spoke to Angelica, although her remark had come out sounding much harsher than Tabitha had actually intended it to be.

Irregardless, to Angelica, Tab's tone had still in no uncertain terms relayed the fact to her that she and Jen were involved in an 'A-B' conversation, and that Angelica could definitely 'C' her way underneath the nearest rock.

Without saying anything else, Angelica just turned away from the two girls and went back to the recliner seat over in the corner of the student center. She then sat back down, picking up the latest Harry Potter novel that had previously preoccupied her, seemingly able to pull her into another world of its own. But, before she once again became fully engrossed in it, Angelica sat back and wondered to herself if she was doomed to remain the proverbial outsider, in some ways now feeling like she was an outcast despite being in the company of fellow cast-offs.

Angelica had thought that these feelings of not fitting in would be a thing of the past, after she had arrived at the Massachusetts Academy back in the spring. It was right after Angelica had lost control of her powers one day, when Cassie and a couple of the other popular girls at her high school had pulled another one of their really mean pranks on her.

Angelica remembered how she had run off crying afterwards, and had ended up taking refuge underneath the gym bleachers. She had felt so ashamed and embarrassed when the girls' dumped garbage on her in the cafeteria in front of the whole school, and having broken the last straw with her, Angelica was no longer able to hold back the raging fire that seemed to burn inside of her. The result was that the school's gymnasium, which was luckily empty at the time, went up in flames in a matter of minutes, and the rumor going around West Morris High School that afternoon was that someone had intentionally set the fire.

After inadvertently setting part of her school on fire, Angelica had run home knowing it was just a matter of time before the authorities figured out who did it. It was in that moment that Angelica finally decided to tell everything to her father, including the fact that she was a mutant. As Mr. Jones tried to figure out what he and his little girl were going to do, both about his daughter's emerging mutant abilities and about the danger they were starting to pose, it was then that Emma Frost miraculously showed up with a solution to all of their problems. She offered to whisk Angelica away, to take her to the private school that she ran in Snow Valley with the promise to her father that she would instruct his daughter in how to properly control her powers. And, Miss Frost had also pledged that the small matter of the damage, which Angelica that had accidentally caused to her high school with her powers, would also be 'taken care of'.

Back in the present as her fellow classmate Catseye now walked by in front of her, Angelica watched this other mutant who was now in her lavender-hued lioness form, and who seemed to vastly prefer remaining in her feline forms than to joining the rest of them in the human world. Catseye proceeded to go over and lie down on the floor close to Angelica, so that she could catch a quick catnap. Meanwhile, Angelica continued looking down at her and for a moment slightly envied Catseye's ability, which allowed her to completely shut out the more complex and confusing world of people around her.

But soon, Angelica herself had also retreated back into her own world, as she curled up in the recliner with the book in her lap and was pulled back into its fantastical pages. A small part of her wished that she could be among these other young people, many of whom had amazing and spectacular powers, and were learning to do brave and incredible things with them.

As ironic as that might sound.

**……………………………………….**

Story 19- _The Disco Dazzler_…

On this sunny afternoon at Xavier's School for the Gifted, some of its residents were taking advantage of the amicable weather outside on the grounds of the estate. But, two students in particular were currently engaged in a favorite outdoor activity of theirs', as they traveled along the wide concrete pathway that encircled the entire mansion.

"Betcha still can't catch me!" Jubilee yelled, as she came flying down the walkway on a pair of inline skates, deciding to take a shortcut through the estate's outdoor garden.

"We'll just see!" Theresa Cassidy responded, as she came down the pathway on her rollerblades right behind Jubilee, moving at an equally fast pace.

But, the two girls were so absorbed by their game of cat and mouse that they didn't see fellow resident and school music teacher Alison Blaire, as they exited the garden area that was also surrounded on all sides by tall, green hedges and shrubbery. The two girls kept with their current pace and speedily rounded a sharp curve on the pathway right outside of the garden, where a few trees had also served to diminish their field of vision and helped to facilitate a potential disaster.

Alison, who also had come outside after deciding to take advantage of the pleasant environment out there this afternoon, had just begun her leisurely stroll towards the beautiful garden that had noticeably benefited from and flourished under Storm's vigilant care. When Jubilee and Terry came rushing towards her, both girls were seemingly dressed the part with their helmets, knee-pads, and elbow pads on, as they almost took Alison down like a couple of blitzing linebackers. But, Alison showed them just how able-bodied that she was, displaying that fact by agilely sliding to the side onto the grass next to the concrete walkway. She barely dodged Jubilee and Terry just in the nick of time, as the pair came whizzing by with great momentum behind them.

"Whoa! I'm, like totally sorry for the near wipeout." Jubilee apologized, after she and Terry had finally managed to stop, and then slowly skated back up the path to where Alison was standing off to the side.

"It's alright. But, I guess that means we'll just have to start enforcing the campus speed limit a little more closely now." Alison light-heartedly replied, as she stepped back up onto the walkway from the grassy area next to it.

Both Jubilee and Terry were dressed in light-colored and lightweight summer clothing, with Jubilee wearing a simple goldenrod tee and short combo set, while Terry had on a similar outfit in a sandy brown color for their roller-blading expedition.

"Those were some nice moves ye have there." Terry now added, as she continued rolling back towards Alison behind Jubilee and complimented her.

"Thanks, it's nice to know that I haven't lost a step, despite my forced early retirement." Alison replied, referring to her reflexes that had been honed by some of the best dance choreographers in the business, a fact which she had just demonstrated first-hand for the two girls.

Then, the trio walked together up the pathway and then over to a larger concrete area right outside of the mansion's garden, which had a couple of benches close by.

"Seeing you two out here sure does bring back some memories." Alison continued talking with them, "When I was your age, me and my friends used to love going to Coney Island on the weekends, and sometimes we would spend whole days just roller-blading on the boardwalk along the beach."

"Then it's time to get offa memory lane and come hook up with the wheeled crowd around here." Jubilee remarked, as she slowly whirled in a tightly defined circle around Alison.

"Sorry, but it's been way too long, and I haven't been on a pair of skates in years." Alison politely declined.

"C'mon, it's just like ridin' a bike. It's not something ye just up and forget." Terry encouragingly responded.

"And you look like you wear the same shoe-size as me too." Jubilee added, as she skated over to one of those benches outside of the garden, sitting down to remove her inline skates.

Alison hesitated at first, but then went ahead and over to the bench. She sat down next to Jubilee and obligingly slipped off the white flats that she had on to accessorize her outfit, which consisted of a mint cream short-sleeve blouse and capri-length pants, before putting on Jubilee's black and pink trimmed boots that had a single, straight rail of four wheels attached on the bottom of its sole.

Alison then stood up from the bench on the skates, at first struggling to find her balance on them. But, true to Terry's words, Alison soon felt like she was fifteen all over again, as she at first slowly glided in a steady circle around the spacious paved surface, before picking up her speed a little.

"You know, I'll never forget this one time when I took a dare from my friends and entered this roller-disco contest they were having at a local rink close to Coney Island called Numero Uno, back when that whole '70's retro-vibe was pretty hot again. I even decided to go all out on the dare my friends had laid down on me, and went so far as to go to this thrift shop uptown to put together a retro outfit to wear on the night of the contest. I remember I picked out this one white polyester outfit that had a revealing, low-cut sleeveless top and these huge bell-bottoms, I'm talking really huge." Alison grinningly reminisced, as she continued whirling around the pavement on her borrowed skates in front of the two girls, "To finish my whole look off, I went and got a leather studded collar and matching wriststraps, and I even put on some blue face paint like I saw in some old pictures. My friends wouldn't stop teasing me, saying how I looked like one of those guys from KISS. And like I said, I had done it all just as a joke, and that's why I couldn't believe it when I actually ended up winning the whole thing that night."

"Well, then ya gotta show us some of those moves that got you crowned 'disco-queen', or whatever it was they called the winner. But, just as long as you don't go do that tongue-thing like that one guy." Jubilee requested of her teacher, "Here, I even got the tunes to make you move."

Jubilee then pulled out an object that had been clipped to the elastic waistband of her shorts, which upon initial observation appeared to be an ordinary transistor radio, although it was anything but ordinary.

"Where'd you get that old pocket radio from?" Alison asked Jubilee.

"It's not an old radio, at least not after Kitty got through turbo-chargin' it." Jubilee replied, as she came over to show the handheld radio to Alison up close, "I had said something one time about wishin' I could have somethin' that picked up satellite radio channels like my boom-box, but wasn't so big to have to lug around with me. Two weeks later, Kit-Cat shows up and like hands this thing to me. I, like, have no idea what she did to it exactly, but this thing picks up AM, FM, digital, police and EMS, and I even think some stuff outta New Zealand. But anyways, let's get things poppin' and use it to light up a disco-inferno for you, and I'm not talkin' about the Fifty-Cent kind either."

Jubilee then looked down at the modified digital display face on the radio, searching through the various channels until she hit upon the all-disco satellite feed. Now coming out of the small speakers, which had a surprisingly rich sound in spite of their miniscule size, was Blondie's Heart of Glass. And taking her cue, Alison began to move along with the rhythm of the song, losing herself in it as she cut loose on her roller blades on the wide, concreted area.

While her musical aptitude might have seemed to be second-nature to her, Alison Blaire's skills as a dancer had come nowhere near as naturally. But, an intense dedication to improving her abilities, combined with hours on top of hours of learning nearly every form of dance known to man managed to cover up that fact. Which Jubilee, Terry, and now another new admirer could attest to, as Alison moved smoothly and gracefully along with the steady beat.

While she put on an exhibition and displayed for them some of the dance stylings in her huge repertoire, which included various versions of 'The Hustle', Alison's audience was impressed just as much by her fluid gyrations on the skates, as they were now by an impromptu light show. The illuminations were provided courtesy of her mutant powers, which thanks to the sound waves of the music coming out of the radio that her body naturally absorbed, caused her to regenerate them into intense light-rays outward.

It was much the same now, as it was back on that night when Alison entered that roller-disco contest, which she had previously mentioned. That night could also be considered Alison's first public performance in front of a crowd of people. Without knowing it at the time, a teenaged Alison's newly burgeoning mutant powers manifested themselves at that moment, while she was strutting her stuff on the floor of Numero Uno's roller rink, captivating and mesmerizing those there to witness it and helping the young participant from Gardendale, Long Island to dazzle and very much stick out in the minds of those there to judge the competition that evening. But, the spectators had assumed that the light show was merely the result of elaborate light tricks and special effects on her part, and when asked afterwards about it by her friends, Alison told them that she had no idea what they were talking about, which was the truth.

The result of that one night was that Alison realized just how much she had enjoyed the thrill of getting up in front of a crowd, performing in front of one that wanted to be entertained and to have a good time. It was in that moment of awareness that Alison began to seriously consider pursuing a career as an entertainer, which would allow her the opportunity to reach an audience through her music.

"When I was asking around looking for you, I didn't realize all of you were out here shooting a sequel to Roller Boogie?" Scott Summer now humorously commented, as he announced his presence to the three ladies out there, after Alison had wound up her exhibition for them. But, Scott had been observing Alison from afar close to the mansion for some time, absolutely entranced by her and by her performance.

"Nah, I was just showing Jubilee and Terry how I really got the nickname of Dazzler." Alison smiled, as she looked over at Scott and ran her hand through her short, reddish-blonde hair.

"We thought you got that nickname because of the role you had in that movie Crossing Points?" Jubilee curiously inquired.

"That was just a movie. I got my nickname from my friends waaayy before I was in that, and the producers just happened to find out about it when they were casting me." Alison informed her, as Scott then got her attention.

"Ali, I was on my way to the cafeteria, and I'd been looking all over for you to see if you wanted to join me?" Scott now asked Alison.

"Sure. Plus, I think I've bored Jubilee and Terry out here long enough anyways." Alison responded, as she had sat back down on the nearby bench to remove the borrowed skates.

"Bore us, no way! Watching paint dry, now THAT is boring." Jubilee sarcastically quipped.

"Well, I guess it's good to know that I at least rank somewhere up above acrylic and latex." Alison just as sarcastically replied, as she handed the skates back to Jubilee, before putting her own shoes back on.

"Ye'll have t' go and dust off yuir old skates, and see if ye can keep up with us when me and Jubilee go 'bladin' around the mansion next time." Terry now offered Alison.

"It's a deal." Alison happily accepted.

"You're invited too, if you wanna come with?" Jubilee added, as she looked over and extended her offer to Scott, but only received a wry smile from him in response. Which displayed to her that Scott was merely giving the proposal a cordial consideration.

Jubilee then sat down on the bench and strapped her skates back on, and in a few minutes she and Terry were back to their roller-race around the campus. Meanwhile, Scott and Alison had headed back inside, so that she could now regale him with the tale of how a Dazzler was born…

**………………………………………..**

Next Chapter: The Wheel of Ideas spins on…

**………………………………………..**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked the assorted grab-bag of goodies from last chapter, including the tidbits of things to come. It hadn't occurred to me how that whole 'lower extremities' line could be read a whole 'nother way. Guess I'm even more clever than I give myself credit for.

Oh, and as far as Carmella goes, she's definitely the real deal and not an OC. Which you'll get to see more of in upcoming chapters…

**Montana Magic**- Thank you for the kudos! I'm glad you enjoyed everything so much, because I wasn't sure at first how deep into the Marvel Universe I should delve. And to me, including lesser-known (and sometimes fairly obscure) characters seemed like a good opportunity to show interactions between them and the more popular ones.

**ishandahalf**- Glad you liked Gambit vs. Iceman, what with all of the ridiculing, taunting, and bragging between them. And I agree with you, and would be willing to lay a couple of dollars on the odds that there has to be a 'Witty Banter 101' being taught somewhere in the comics universe too.

**Independent Fire**- Glad you're intrigued by the appearance of Carmella, and with the stuff going on with everyone else. All I can say is stay tuned…

**El Varon**- If I had to guess, I'd say the Thing and the Hulk would probably start off above a size 20 or 25 shoe, at least. But, right off the top of my head, I can't remember if FF4 the movie might've made mention of this or not?


	8. Stories 20, 21, and 22

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**………………………………………….**

Story 20- Alternative School Part 10, Live to Tell

Located on the spacious campus of the Massachusetts Academy stands Conrad Hall, the residency-dorm assigned to the school's senior-most coeds. But unofficially, Conrad Hall had also earned a far more dubious distinction from those same senior students that resided there, who had affectionately nicknamed it 'The Brotherhood House' because of their secret affiliation with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants.

On this mid-summer's night, the three Brotherhood girls who lived in that House were currently down on in its first-floor, gathered together in the living room in front of the large television in there.

"Alright, who wants chips, no dips?" Tabitha Smith cheerfully said, as she re-entered the living room with a large glass bowl in her hands, sitting it down on a short coffee table that lay in between the sofa and the TV in there.

"I'm good." Jennifer Stavros replied first, as she sat with one leg hanging off of one of the arms of a lone lounger-seat, which sat adjacent to the sofa.

"I'll get some in a minute." Joanna Cargill said next, from the sofa where she was seated.

Joanna, like Tab and Jen, was also dressed in summer attire and had on a charcoal-gray tanktop with black shorts. With Joanna's shapely features and the long, decorative braids that she had her hair tied back into, this athletically-built teen looked as though she could very easily pass for being a taller relative of the popular Williams' sisters.

"So, what'd I miss?" Tabitha asked the other girls, as she sat down on the sofa next to Joanna, noticing that the commercial break that had begun when she had gotten up to go into the kitchen, had now ended.

"Not much. The guy's lawyer is still workin' that same alibi." Joanna told her, as the three of them had been watching a crime drama show being rerun on late-night TV.

"Guess it's good just you two were in here. I made the mistake last time of askin' Irene that same question, and she told me everything. Including, how the ep was gonna end." Tabitha told them.

"She did the same thing to me too." Jennifer laughed from over in her chair, when suddenly they all heard a loud knocking coming from over at the front door of Conrad Hall.

"Wonder who it is?" Tab curiously said, as it was very unusual for the senior residence to get visitors, especially at this time of night.

"I'll go see. Probably just some of the guys from over at the junior's dorm." Jen guessed, as she walked over to the entrance area that lay between the living room and kitchen in front of the staircase.

"They better not be playin' that 'knock on the door and then run away' crap! I warned those dorks what I'd do if I ever caught 'em doin' that again." The verbally and physically intimidating Joanna told Jen and Tab, as she relaxed back into the sofa.

Meanwhile, as Jennifer had gone over and looked through the keyhole, she went ahead and opened the door after realizing that the person standing there was definitely not a student at the Massachusetts Academy.

"**WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER**?" A loud and belligerent voice angrily inquired from the doorstep. Jennifer had no idea who this middle-aged man with receding brown hair and a rounded waist was, and she was just as clueless to why he was ranting so. But Tabitha, however, immediately recognized the voice.

"God, how did he find me?" Tabitha thought to herself, as she jumped up from the sofa and raced over to the front door to confirm her worst fear.

It was him all right. Standing there at the front door was Tabitha's father, looking much the same as when she had last seen him nearly two years ago with his blue and white striped button-up shirt on, which he had left untucked outside of his worn-looking work jeans. And judging by Marty Smith's slightly wobbly stance, he also appeared to be just as drunk now, as he was when she had last seen him.

"**What're you doin' here**!" Tabitha exclaimed, as she had come to the door to now stand face-to-face with her father. Meanwhile, Jennifer had taken a few steps backwards, but was still standing right behind her best-friend.

"That's no way to greet me. I'm still your father, and I got a right to see what conditions you're livin' in here." Mr. Smith slurred in response, as he used his sizable arm to prop himself up against the front door's frame.

"Funny, our living conditions never seemed to bother you before." Tab disparagingly replied, as she stood and folded her arms in front of her.

"I came here because we need to talk, and you'll damn-well show me some respect while I'm here!" Mr. Smith now shouted, raising his voice once again.

"Fine, just c'mon before you wake up the whole house." Tabitha said, as she quickly went back inside to grab a windbreaker from a hall closet, before she went outside with her father and closed the front door behind them.

Because of the unique location and higher elevation of where the Massachusetts Academy stood in between the Berkshire Mountains, it caused the climate on campus to remain fairly cool at night, even in the middle of summer.

As Tabitha and her Dad walked outside on a night where the stars shone brightly, but where the moon was barely visible, they headed away from the embarrassment of the scene that her father had caused at the front door. Then, Tabitha spoke to him again.

"Well…" Tabitha now initiated the next part of their conversation, as she stood a few feet away from her father with her hands in the pockets of her white and pink windbreaker, whose length came halfway down on the red gym-style shorts that she had on.

"That's no way to act, especially after I went through so much trouble to find out where your mother put you." Mr. Smith replied, with a devious smile expressed on his face.

"Let me guess? The only reason you'd even bothered to come lookin' for me after all this time's because you're gettin' low on dollars, and you need your worthless daughter's mutie-powers to help you pick up the cash-flow again?" Tabitha speculated, as she had seen right through her father's facade of parental concern.

"All I need is a little help to get the creditors off my back, that's all. Workin' together just like we used to, we'll make some serious money in no time." Mr. Smith told her.

"In that case, you can forget it! I'm through with usin' my powers to break into places and help you steal shit." Tabitha angrily replied.

"It'll only be until I'm back up on my feet again, just enough to tide me over for a little while." Mr. Smith continued trying to persuade her.

"**I told you NO**! I'm not stupid Dad, I know why you really need that money sooo bad. You can go find someone else to help support your drinkin', and get you cash so you can go score some more drugs!" Tabitha yelled at him with both of her hands now out of her pockets and down by her side, as father and daughter were apparently alternating in a screaming contest to see who could be heard the farthest away.

"So, you up and win some scholarship to this rich-to-do school, and all of a sudden you're too good to lend your old man a hand!" Mr. Smith shouted back, as he now walked over closer to her, "But, now the more I think about it, I don't know why this place'd even be interested in a good-for-nothin', mutie-brat like you anyways?"

"God, I hate you! Why don't you just go get lost, and find some other family and make their lives' miserable!" Tabitha screamed some more at him.

"That's all of the back-talk I'm gonna take comin' outta you!" Mr. Smith shouted, as he lunged forward and violently grabbed his daughter around her arms. Tabitha knew full well what was next, now that she had finally managed to set off her father's temper, which was on even more of a hair-trigger in his drunken state.

Since arriving at the Massachusetts Academy, Tabitha had been trained to use her mutant powers to take on armed soldiers, other mutants, and to even stare down Sentinels without flinching. But, when it came to her father, Tabitha seemed to instantly revert back to that same defenseless and scared little girl that had suffered through years of abuse at his hands.

As Tabitha closed her eyes and braced herself for the all too-familiar sensation of her father's powerful fist hitting her, Mr. Smith suddenly and unexpectedly stopped in his tracks when he heard a strange sound coming from behind him.

Click-clack

Click-clack

Click. Clack.

After Tabitha and her Dad had gone outside, Jennifer had immediately rushed up the stairs inside of the Brotherhood House towards John's room, so that she could tell him about Tabitha's father being there. After John had scrambled back downstairs, he immediately saw that Joanna had gone and taken a position by a side window in the kitchen. As they both closely watched while Tab and her father's argument escalated, Joanna had suggested to him that they should all go outside and show Mr. Smith some tough, 'Brotherhood love'. But, the Brotherhood's deputy leader replied to Joanna that he would go out and deal with the situation, as he hurried outside through the kitchen's back door, and then quietly slipped around the side of the house to its front.

John had thought that while his own home life had been pretty shoddy, it was nothing when compared to the pure hell that his girlfriend had lived through. When she would be in the rare mood to actually talk about specific details from her past, even John would cringe internally at some of Tab's recollections. Memories, which ran the gamut from her father's constant verbal beratements of her, to being slapped or punched by him for just about anything he felt that she didn't do right, or that she just didn't do right enough for his liking. And, Tabitha had also told John about how things seemed to only get worse when her father learned that she was a mutant, taking his anger out on her at the shame he felt from having a freak for a daughter.

"I think you better let her go, NOW!" John Allerdyce loudly said to Mr. Smith in a demanding tone as this young man, who was very much in love with Mr. Smith's daughter, along his trusty metal lighter announced their insertion into this already tense situation.

"Stay outta this punk, this is between me and my daughter and none of your concern!" Mr. Smith replied, as he had now released his tight and wrenching grip on Tabitha's upper arms. Mr. Smith then stood there looking at John, somewhat struggling to regain his balance thanks to the fairly intoxicated state that he was in.

"Anything that has to do with her concerns me." John replied, as he continued slowly flipping the lid of his cigarette lighter open, and then slapping it closed with his hand.

"My daughter must've been reeaal nice to you, to have you come runnin' out here like this. Figures she'd be a tramp just like her mother!" Mr. Smith derogatorily remarked about Tabitha.

"**Leave Mom outta this**! You know, the best thing she ever did was when she left your sorry, broke, drunk ass!" Tabitha yelled back at him.

But this time, Mr. Smith's only response to Tabitha's comments was a lightning-fast backhand that found its mark on the side of her face, which forcefully knocked her down to the ground and on to her hands and knees.

Now, John understood precisely what Tabitha had meant when she used to tell him about how her father could be such an abusive and controlling man. He also saw for himself just what kind of person that her Dad really was, to be capable of treating his own flesh and blood in such a cruel and callous way. And, seeing him doing this to Tab filled John with an unfettered rage, the likes of which he had never in his life felt before.

"You don't know how bad you just screwed up." John said, as a wide grin came to his face and he flicked up a small flame on his lighter.

With John's own hot-temper flaring at the sight of his girlfriend down on the ground, he simply lost control. It broke him up to see tears as they rolled down on Tabitha's face from the tremendous pain that she was feeling, partially from her father's jolting shot, but more-so from the emotional bruises that lingered long after those physical ones had healed.

John reached deep into his mind, to that part which allowed him to control pyrokinetic fields and prepared to use his lighter in the most violent manner that he could think of. He went to increase the spark's volume exponentially, enough to allow him to create a moderately-sized fire-dragon, which would grab Mr. Smith and then show him what it was like to feel helpless at the unforgiving fury of his flames.

But try as John might, the small flame on the shark's-toothed cigarette lighter that he was holding out in front of him wouldn't do his bidding, almost as if his powers were somehow being blocked. Then, as a new presence stepped from out of the shadows next to the Brotherhood House, John learned that this assumption was very much close to the truth.

"Mr. Smith, I believe that your visit here has lasted long enough. I will not tolerate this abusive-aggressive nonsense of yours to continue on my campus any longer." Emma Frost, the Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy very calmly said to him, as she had just arrived on the scene and now lifted the psi-screen that she had used to mask her approach from the other side of the campus.

After Tab's Dad had arrived on campus, one of the security guards there, who was named Gilbert and had been assigned to the Massachusetts Academy from the Inner Circle's special detail, had stopped and then verified Mr. Smith's identity through records stored in a palm pilot device in his possession. After Mr. Smith's insistence that he be allowed to see his daughter, Gilbert went ahead and allowed Tabitha's father entry onto the grounds. But, he also contacted Miss Frost at her private residence via his cell phone, and informed her of what was going on.

"You will now leave, and you won't remember coming here. Nor, will you ever have a desire to return." Miss Frost continued, as she used her first-order telepathic abilities to scramble Mr. Smith's memories, before planting a post-hypnotic suggestion in his mind.

"I…gotta be going." Mr. Smith said, as a glazed-over expression now washed over his face.

Miss Frost had proven, that while drunken fists and an ability to control one of the core elements of nature could be powerful weapons in their own right, ultimately they still paled in comparison to the power granted to a woman with the ability to manipulate the greatest weapon of all, the human mind.

Meanwhile, as a telepathically-dazed Mr. Smith had been expelled and now walked back towards a side-gate at the school, so that he could make his departure from the campus and begin his lengthy hitchhike journey back home to Roanoke, Virginia, Tabitha picked herself up from the ground with the left side of her face still painfully smarting from being hit by her Dad.

"Thanks, Miss Frost." Tabitha looked up and thanked her teacher for her assistance, as she used the back of her own hand to wipe away the tears that were still rolling down her face, partially smudging some of her makeup in the process.

"I will not have the likes of him interfering in what we are trying to accomplish here." Miss Frost coolly replied, as she took her glasses off and stood before her two students wearing a cream-colored, lightweight trench coat, which covered the typically skimpy lingerie that she preferred to slip into at night.

"Well, still, thanks anyways." Tabitha told her, as John had put his lighter back into his jeans pocket and came over to put his arm comfortingly around Tab.

"You two should go inside. It's getting late, and you both have an early session in the Combat Room scheduled for the morning." Miss Frost said to the couple, as she then turned away from them and headed in the direction back towards her private residence to retire for the night.

"Come on, let's go in." John told Tabitha, kissing her gently on her forehead, as they now turned and went back in through the front door of the Brotherhood House.

Upon re-entering their residency dorm, Tabitha and John were met by the sight of their fellow senior-squad members, who were now gathered in the living room and in the kitchen.

"You okay Tabby?" Jennifer was the first to ask, as she sat in the living room alongside Joanna and now Manuel, sounding genuinely concerned for Tabitha after they had seen what had transpired outside.

But, before Tabitha could respond to her friend's inquiry another one of their teammates, who had just come downstairs from his room and was wearing a simple white muscle-shirt and a pair of plain dark-colored shorts, seemed almost irresistibly compelled to make one of his customary mocking remarks.

"Say, why didn't you go ahead and invite your Pops in? I'm sure I can scrounge up a beer or six for him." Lance Alvers said to Tab from inside of the kitchen and began to laugh a little, although no one else within earshot of him thought that what he had said to be the least bit funny.

Especially Tabitha.

Under normal circumstances, Tabitha would have been more than eager to engage Lance in their usual exchange of insults, firing back at him with a verbal barrage, or possibly with one of her well-charged time bombs. But, having just gone a couple of rounds emotionally and physically with her own father, and with the side of her face still throbbing from being smacked by him, Tab just stared at Lance with an expression that said 'Why can't you just let it go for once, ass'.

As Tabitha felt new tears beginning to well up again, and because of how upset and embarrassed she felt by the entire situation, she absolutely did not feel like dealing with Lance at the moment. Nor even bothering with the trouble of giving a response to his remark, which seemed to be more of a low-blow from him than their usually contentious banter.

So, Tab simply let out a huffing sigh and instinctively spun back around, so that she could leave through the still open front door. But just as quickly as she had turned away, Tabitha felt a strong arm once again reach around her waist, halting her exit.

"Let's just go on upstairs." John whispered into Tabitha's ear, as the two of them then slowly turned back towards the direction of the staircase, which stood close to the kitchen by the entrance area.

"Hey Tab, look I--" Lance once again spoke to her, but this time in a more serious tone, when he was loudly and abruptly interrupted by John.

"One more word outta your mouth, just ONE more, and I'll turn your ass inside out!" John angrily warned Lance, as he now proceeded past the counter-area by the kitchen doorway, with his arm soothingly around Tabitha. The two of them then ascended up the stairs, and did so without hearing another word out of Lance.

**……………………………………**

A little while later upstairs in Tabitha's bedroom…

"Here, let me take a look at it." John said to Tab, as they were lying together on her bed with his arms cradled around her from behind.

As she turned over on top of the coral-pink bedspread that covered her entire bed, which she and John had crashed on as soon as they had made it upstairs, Tabitha laid on her side to face John. He then took his hand and gently pushed Tabitha's long blonde bangs from in front of her face over to the side. John then lifted an icepack off of her face that had been wrapped up in a towel, which Tab had been holding up against her cheek to numb some of pain that she was feeling there.

Surprisingly, the icepack had been thoughtfully prepared and brought up for Tab a few minutes after she and John had come upstairs. It was done as a sort of peace-offering from another resident of the Brotherhood House, who had realized that he had crossed the line and gone too far with his earlier comments towards her.

"Yeah, you're probably gonna have a nice shiner in the morning." John said to Tabitha, as he gently inspected the swollen, discolorated area on her face in the dimly-lit bedroom.

"My Dad is SUCH a loser, with a big-ass 'L'!" Tabitha resentfully replied to John, as she quickly turned back over on the bed and faced away from him.

Tabitha then reached back behind her to grab John's arm, draping it back across her own waist. Tabitha then sat the icepack over on a nearby nightstand, where the windbreaker that she had been wearing was now plopped down on the floor beside of, and she proceeded to gingerly run her own fingers across the expanding puffiness that was on the side of her face.

"I guess you must really hate your old man for all the crap he's put you through?" John now posed to Tab, as he rested his head up on her left shoulder.

"You better believe it, I mean…" Tabitha began before pausing, as she was finally forced to confront those emotions buried deep within her regarding her true feelings towards her father, and about their relationship.

"Well, I…I guess there might be a small part of me that still cares about my Dad. But tell me John, how can anyone, any decent human being, do those kinda…things to his own daughter?" Tabitha resumed, as the thin line that existed between love and hate only served to complicate the matter for her.

Then, as much as she had struggled to hold them back, Tabitha began shedding tears once again as the emotional roller-coaster her father's return had put her onto continued pulling her along for the ride.

As Tabitha now uncontrollably bawled her eyes out, John softly kissed the back of her neck and caressingly rubbed her shoulder blades, letting Tab know that he would be there to help her through it. Then, something occurred to John.

Having now dropped her veneer of the tough, punk party-girl who only lived for the ultimate wild night or to pull the ultimate prank, John was getting another first-class glimpse into the 'real' Tabitha Smith, complete with the pain and vulnerabilities from her past that she had fought so hard to hide from the rest of the world. And it reminded John of the first real conversation that he and Tabitha had ever had together, which was shortly after his arrival in Snow Valley. He also remembered, in particular, the poem that she had managed to read in his private journal that day. Tabitha had told him several times afterwards about how, even now, that poem had remained as her favorite among his various writings-

_The Real Me_

_Some people always talk about how _

_they're bein' real or keepin' it real_

_like it's something you do_

_to just be cool or so you can say you're down_

_But bein' real isn't about acting a certain way_

_just to impress the rest of the world_

_Real, is that part of you_

_That's goofy or that doesn't fit in_

_And it's really that part of you_

_that sucks and that gets hurt_

_That's why when folks talk about bein' real_

_Most of the time what you're seeing is a mask they're putting on_

_to cover up that part of them that's realer than real …_

As John lay next to Tabitha, who by now had finally managed to stop crying and was beginning to drift off to sleep, he thought about that poem he had written and about how it ran both ways. Tabitha, this girl whom he currently had his arms tightly wrapped around, was the only person that he had ever felt comfortable enough with to show the 'real' John Allerdyce to, revealing to her some of the hurts and insecurities that he had also carried around inside of him.

And as the night passed on, these two somewhat flawed individuals, the wise-cracking prankster and the brooding fire-starter, would remain there until it was time for them to get up, so that they could put their own masks back on once again.

**……………………………………………………..**

Story 21- Tired of Being Alone

Friday Night.

At Xavier's School for the Gifted, this meant the majority of the school's student body were nowhere in sight, either inside of the mansion or on campus. As for the faculty, the same could also be said. Although, not in every single case.

Scott Summers, who served in a dual capacity as one of the school's teachers and also as one of the X-Men's field commanders', was passing his time on this evening by engaging in a simulated exercise in the Danger Room, the underground training room designed by Professor Charles Xavier to help his X-Men develop and hone their mutant powers. But, for most of the X-Men, the Danger Room was also the place that allowed them to cut-loose with those powers, without fear of reprisal from a world that had yet to fully understand and accept them for these extraordinary abilities that they had been born with.

Which was something that the individual, who had just entered the Danger Room's control booth up above it, could unequivocally attest to.

"So, this is how you unwind after a long stressful week, by fighting for your life in a huge videogame?" Alison Blaire light-heartedly commented through the comm-speaker to Scott, who himself was still down in the Danger Room.

Alison had originally come down to the Danger Room after checking the school's security system. Seeing that there was someone training down there, she had decided to come find out who it was.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it." Scott grinned in response to Alison's question, as he looked up at her through the control booth's window. Scott had been in between combat simulations when Alison had come into the control booth, and now paused the program that he was running before the next training scenario could start.

"Well, I guess whatever floats your boat. But, I don't think you'll get me down there anytime soon to find out." Alison told him, as she observed that Scott was dressed in his black leather X-Men uniform and had on his ruby-quartz battle visor.

"Why not?" Scott curiously inquired of her statement, as the robots that had been holographically made to look like armed HYDRA soldiers stood motionless around him.

"Because a super-hero I'm definitely not." Alison responded, as she stood in front of the Danger Room's master console in the control booth, putting her hands down on its front edge and leaned slightly against it.

"The purpose of the Danger Room is for more than practicing battlefield tactics, it's also here to help us learn to better control our mutant powers. Come on down, and I'll show you what I'm talking about." Scott encouragingly said, as he invited Alison to come join him.

Alison then stood back from the console and took a moment to carefully consider Scott's offer, before she answered.

"I guess a little violence-therapy never hurt anyone." Alison smirked and shook her head a little, as she agreed to his proposition. Alison then turned back towards the control booth's door, so that she could head down the hallway and staircase that went straight down to the Danger Room's entrance.

In the mean time, Scott verbally ordered the Danger Room's computer to completely terminate the training session that he had been running, as the robotic HYDRA soldiers he had been fighting against lost their holographically-induced images, and were now lowered into a large holding level that sat beneath the Danger Room.

A short journey, and a short-time later…

"So, what's up first? Fighting Sentinels, or do we jump straight to taking on Magneto by ourselves?" Alison sarcastically asked, as she walked towards Scott.

But, Scott didn't respond immediately, as he was preoccupied with the sight of Alison gracefully sauntering towards him across the stadium-sized training facility. Alison had on a pair of form-fitting, medium-blue capris that came down to her ankles, and also saw had on a low-cut, short-sleeved blouse that matched. Upon closer inspection, Scott noticed that Alison's naturally blonde hair was now barely showing any traces of the crimson-colored hair dye, which she had used on it shortly before her arrival at the mansion.

"Nothing quite as advanced as that." Scott replied to Alison's question about the difficulty of the training exercise they were going to run. Scott then turned his gaze from Alison back up towards the control booth that she had just exited, now speaking directly to the Danger Room's computer.

"Computer, cue up training module b-003."

The Danger Room then responded to Scott'ss command, as a section of the floor about forty-yards away from them opened up, and a series of bulls-eye targets rose up and positioned themselves.

"The objective of this exercise is straight-forward, just hit as many targets using your mutant light-ray as you can. And since we're just starting, there won't be a time-limit." Scott explained to Alison, as she now stood right next to him.

"Yeah, no pressure there." Alison less than confidently replied, as she looked forward at the targets, "Those things are so far away, there's no way I'm even gonna hit one of them."

"I don't think you'll have a problem doing that. I was studying footage of your last concert and noticed a few things." Scott looked over and told Alison.

"You were studying me, huh? I didn't think you found me quite that interesting." Alison playfully replied, as she smiled and lightly tapped Scott in his side with her elbow.

"Well, um, I was actually looking at how you hit the Blob with that energy blast, when he jumped up on stage with you." Scott explained to her.

"Oh, that. Well, if I concentrate hard enough, I guess I can try to create that same kind of light blast. But, outside of that concert I've only done it a couple of times, and even then it was just by accident." Alison told him, "And as you saw, all the Blob did was just laugh it off."

"Maybe, but I want you to try something." Scott said, as he then called up to the Danger Room's computer and had it tune into a digital music channel that began playing out of the large speakers located in various places around the dome-roofed room.

"An '80's station? I guess you have been studying me, or at least my musical tastes, after all?" Alison laughed, as Madonna's Material Girl now played throughout the entire Danger Room.

"I just figured that the constant flow of music in here would help you out with this exercise." Scott replied, showing that he really had been studying more than her musical tastes, and had gotten a fairly good understanding of how her mutant powers worked, "Now, let's see what you can do."

"Okay." Alison closed her eyes and replied, as she then held her right hand out in front of her.

Alison proceeded to summon forth the energy, which she had been storing in her body as a result of the sonic vibrations from the music, and directed it into a light blast that she aimed at the target range in the Danger Room. The resulting light-beam easily traveled the length across the Danger Room over to the targets, just like Scott had said. But, Alison's accuracy was very much off, and she only ended up nicking the edge of one of the bulls-eyes.

"You don't have to close your eyes, your light-blast won't hurt you." Scott told Alison, as he came over and stood right behind her, putting his leather-gloved hands caressingly over hers, before clasping them together.

Scott then configured Alison's hands into the shape of a gun, just as he had seen her do when the Blob had crashed her concert in New York City and began his rampage through Madison Square Garden.

"Look at the target and focus. I want you to imagine that you're channeling all of that light power in your body, and that you're going to release it right through your finger-tips." Scott whispered into Alison's ear, as he still stood very closely behind her and grasped her arms underneath her elbows in a supportive embrace, while Alison aimed once again at the one of the targets in the Danger Room.

"What, use the force then?" Alison joked with him, as she cocked her head back slightly to look up at Scott, all the while remaining closely wrapped up with him as they stood together.

"Something like that." Scott smiled in response, "Now, go ahead and try it again."

This time Alison concentrated very hard and did just as Scott had told her, focusing on the target in front of them and imagining in her mind that a tidal wave of light energy was about to erupt out of her. And it paid off, as a tremendously powerful laser-blast emerged from her hands, this time hitting one of the targets right in its center and blowing it to bits.

"Whoa, did I just do that?" An astonished Alison now asked, as she and Scott stood together looking at the smoldering remains of the target across from them in the Danger Room.

"Yeah, it was all you." Scott confirmed for her.

"Wow, I didn't think I had that kind of power in me." Alison told Scott, as she bouncingly turned around and excitedly spoke to him, "Not only are you good with the motivational speeches, but you make a pretty good crash-course instructor too."

"With a little bit of work, I think you might even reconsider your decision about joining the X-Men." Scott now looked down into Alison's ravishing blue eyes and told her, as she was still standing very close in front of him with her hands lightly pressed up against his chest.

"Look out, here comes the next X-girl ready to save the--" Alison was smiling and humorously saying to him, when out of nowhere Scott suddenly interrupted her in mid-sentence. Although, his interruption didn't come in the form of words.

Rather, it happened when Scott unexpectedly leaned forward and kissed Alison, a kiss that he delivered to her in a surprisingly strong and passionate manner, and one that caught her completely off-guard.

"--world…" Alison softly uttered after their impromptu lip-lock had ended, as she now finished her sentence.

Alison then stood there in front of Scott, looking over to her right and sort of stared off into space with what appeared to be a reasonably stunned look on her face.

"Look, I'm, um, sorry, I shouldn't have…have done that." Scott took a few steps back from Alison and now apologetically said to her, after he had just very uncharacteristically and impulsively acted on the affectionate sensibilities that he been harboring for her. Scott's feelings towards Alison had building inside of him for quite some time, which had begun not too long after their initial meeting.

Alison continued to just stare up at him, as they stood in the center of the Danger Room together, and Scott then turned to quickly walk over to its exit. But, he left before giving Alison the chance to regain her composure and speak to him once again.

"Scott, wait, it's okay. You don't have to go." Alison finally managed to call out to him, just as the Danger Room's doors slid closed behind Scott.

**………………………………………..**

Some time later that evening…

In one of the small study's rarely used by the mansion's other residents, Alison found herself sitting behind a piano located in there. Even though it was highly unlikely that she would ever get the chance to record any of her new music anytime soon, Alison still continued to write and work on the songs that seemed to constantly come to her, having jotted down a good number of these unfinished musical compositions in a notebook that she kept in her room.

Then, as she played a few chords on the piano in an unstructured melody, searching for the right key as she wrote an accompanying part to one of her songs, Alison stopped when she felt a presence standing behind her at the doorway. She turned around to see that it was Scott standing there, and that he had now changed out of his uniform into a more casual outfit. Scott had on a yellow short-sleeved shirt with navy blue vertical stripes on it, a shirt that he had left unbuttoned to reveal a white t-shirt that he had on underneath it, and Alison also noticed that he had on a pair of his customary khaki slacks.

"Oh, hey you." Alison smiled, as she spoke first and greeted him.

"I suppose you must think I'm completely nuts for the way I ran out on you downstairs?" Scott now posed to Alison, as he stood there with his shoulder leaning up against the doorframe.

"Actually, I'm not so much thinkin' you're nuts, as I'm wondering if I'm really that bad of a kisser?" Alison playfully inquired, as she looked over at him from the piano bench.

"No, that's not it at all. The kiss was great, REALLY great in fact. I guess my problem is that it's just been a while since I've kissed anyone like that." Scott told her.

"Well, I sure don't see any problems, because you obviously haven't lost your touch during that time." Alison semi-smirked in response, referring to the effect that Scott's kiss had on her, "But, if it wasn't bad, then what is it?"

Alison then slid over on the piano-bench and made room for one more, as she motioned for Scott to come into the study and join her. After Scott came over and took a seat on the bench beside her, he sat there quietly preparing for a moment to explain to her what was really going on inside of him. As Scott searched for those words, Alison attempted in vain to gaze into his eyes, which were concealed fairly-well behind the ruby-quartz lenses of his glasses.

"I think I just felt guilty for enjoying it so much." Scott started, as he put himself out on the line and opened up to Alison, nervously running his right-hand back through his dark-brown hair one time while speaking, "You see, before you came here I had been in a very long relationship with a woman who used to live here. We were very much in love, even seriously talking about marriage. But, we only got as far as talking, because…"

"You're talking about Jean Grey, aren't you?" Alison interrupted and said, which caused Scott to obviously be taken back a little, since Jean had died nearly a year before Alison had even met the X-Men.

"Jubilee and Kitty told me a lot about her, and about how serious the two of you were before…you know." Alison continued, as she very lightly slid her fingers across the surface of the piano keys in front of her without pressing them down, revealing to Scott how she had found out about that particular part of his life, "I mean, it's totally understandable that you'd still have some issues to work through about her, and about the relationship you two had. I just want you to know I want to be there for you, when you're ready, and I don't want you to move any faster than you think you can handle."

After hearing this understanding response from Alison, Scott sat on the piano bench next to her and gazed into her eyes for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was just a few brief moments.

"Thank you." Scott was finally able to reply to her statement.

Then, slowly but steadily Scott slipped his left hand over on top of Alison's at the edge of the piano, letting his fingers glide over her silky, smooth skin. Then, Scott reached over and smoothly placed his right hand against the side of Alison's face, before he slid even closer to her on the bench and leaned in to kiss her.

But, this time there were no feelings of apprehension or guilt within Scott, just the exhilaration to be felt from an intimate proclamation between two people of the romantic intrigue that they held for one another.

And, it was a romantic curiosity that these two lone individuals obviously wanted to further explore, as Scott and Alison continued their tender kiss together for some time. Scott without question had shown Alison that he was now ready to move onto that next part of his life, and hoped that his gesture told her that he wanted it to be with her playing a very significant role in it with him.

**……………………………………………**

Story 22- Alternative School Part 11, The Cards Never Lie

At the Massachusetts Academy, its Headmistress Emma Frost had gone to great lengths to put together a top-notch teaching staff, one who was capable of administering to her students the complete knowledge and skills that they would need in order to become the future leaders and vanguards of their generation. As a result, Emma Frost had also had to seek out teachers who were willing to deal with the unusual needs sometimes required of her rather unique student body.

While this small group of teachers, whom she had personally hand-picked out of an exclusive pool of educators and academics, had done their jobs admirably and were well compensated as a result, there were still instances where Emma had to resort to other experts that were more adept to give the specialized, one-on-one instruction that a few of them needed.

Case in point…

"_Mam'selle_ Adler, I do not believe that I will ever fully grasp this new aspect of my mutant powers." Marie-Ange Colbert, the young mutant known as Tarot said to her teacher, as they were both currently inside of one of the classrooms within the main academic hall at the Massachusetts Academy.

Marie-Ange was sitting at a table at the back of this classroom, still garbed in her magenta and purple training uniform. The brunette teen, with dark-brown hair that had lighter-brown highlights in them, had been sent directly from her afternoon workout in the school's Combat Room to this special tutorial, all at the special directive of Miss Frost herself.

Irene Adler, who also went by the designation of Destiny due to her mutant ability to predict the future with a reasonable degree of accuracy, was now trying to instruct young Marie-Ange in how to also master this particular talent.

"Navigating something as boundless as time itself is not a leisurely endeavor." Ms. Adler told Marie-Ange, as this older lady with silver-gray hair who was wearing a simple lavender dress that buttoned in the front, sat with her hands placed together up on the rounded table right in front of her.

"But, seeing the future itself, _c'est impossible_." Marie-Ange remarked, as she sat at the table across from her teacher and stared at her tarot cards laid out in front of her, "Now, I understand why my grandmother, who first taught me how to read the tarots, was barely able to use them to in a manner such as this."

"Nothing is impossible. Sit and listen to one who has spent most of her lifetime awash in the myriad of possible realities, it will merely take you time and much practice to be able to do so." Ms. Adler told her.

Although the dark sunglasses that Ms. Adler wore provided an unmistakable clue as to her sight-deficiency, with a power such as the one that she possessed it would be just as much of a mistake to label Destiny as handicapped.

"Now, I want you to try again, and I want you to remember what I have taught you about focusing first on the near present. The farther in the future that you try to look, the greater that the chance of inaccurate predictions will occur." Ms. Adler now instructed Marie-Ange, as Tarot looked back down into the tarot cards in front of.

Immediately, Tarot seemed to enter into a trance-like state, as the pupils in her eyes shrank and her mind began to once again fill with events that she could have no way of imagining on her own.

"I see…a great bird of fire, rising up from the ashes and reaching up to set both the heavens above and the earth below ablaze with her awesome might…" Tarot now told Ms. Adler, as these innumerable visions flashed in her mind like a slide-show being run at a million-miles a second before her very eyes, "Now, I see the harbinger of doom, a being born of pure destruction itself, bent on establishing his own Apocalyptic world order on…wait, now I see another world, one where mutantkind is safe, in control, at peace, thanks to a mighty House built by M--"

Then, just as before, Tarot's mind simply could not process anymore of these infinite visions flowing into her, and she had to break the psionic-link with her tarot cards before they completely overwhelmed her.

"_Je suis désolée_(I am sorry). I…could not take much more." Marie-Ange apologized, as she now slumped back into her chair and looked through the classroom's window out onto this partly cloudy afternoon.

"It is alright child. Each time that you allow yourself to sift through the flowing streams of time itself, you become stronger. Your abilities are improving one step at a time, just as they should be." Ms. Adler reassured her, as Marie-Ange sat and rested for a moment. Then, she spoke to her instructor again.

"_Mam'selle_?" Marie-Ange now aksed her.

"Yes…" Ms. Adler replied, waiting for Marie-Ange to ask her a question, although Destiny had a very good idea of what that question would be.

"What do all of these visions mean?" Marie-Ange posed to her, confused by some of the things that she had been seeing.

"Possibly nothing. Perhaps to us, everything. We won't know for certain until we have had the chance to look further into these possible tomorrows, to determine whether they actually belong to our timeline, or to an alternate time and place." Ms. Adler explained to her.

"There is one premonition that I continue to see more clearly than the others. It has to do with a great betrayal, where one close to those around her will leave to take up the cause of another." Marie-Ange revealed, as she had been seeing one specific vision in the many sessions since she began working with Ms. Adler, "Should we inform _Mam'selle_ Frost of this?"

"No, not yet. No potential timeline that we see is guaranteed absolutely. I suggest that we continue to look for those prerequisite events in our timeline, which would be necessary to make such a defection come to pass." Ms. Adler said to Marie-Ange, as Tarot began reading her cards anew, and once again attempted to gain a better view of the future through them.

Meanwhile, Ms. Adler sat in her chair across from the young French girl, and thought about what Tarot had asked her. Being more experienced with her clairvoyant powers, she had also been seeing the same visions that were now being revealed to Tarot.

And Destiny was slowly becoming certain, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that this departure would indeed happen very soon in their here and now. Destiny's powers also allowed her to see how this act would just be an opening salvo, in what would rapidly turn into an escalating conflict between these two powerful mutant factions, who were destined to play such a defining role in the future that was to come…

**………………………………………**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked a lot of what went on last chapter with Lance at the Massachusetts Academy and down in Westchester with Alison and Scott, and I hope that trend continued with this chapter too.

**El Varon**- Glad you liked Cap's inclusion and Angelica's re-emergence from limbo (no, not that one). And, I guess I'd just be wasting my time in asking if you were interested in my disco-compilation CD's?

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked the Catseye mention. And I'll have to look and see if another appearance by her can't be somehow squeezed in. And Scott can be funny. Sometimes. When the moons are in strict alignment.

Oh, and didn't you hear? The big words are on a quest for global dominance. They're coming to a neighborhood near you soon…


	9. Story 23

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**………………………………………….**

A/N: This is dedicated to all of you ROMY lovers out there.

Story 23- Touch Me

If one were to search for the ideal example to represent what the next generation of X-Men should be striving towards, it seems that their deputy-leader, Marie D'Acanto would more than fit the bill. Brave, hard-working, and very much dedicated to doing everything in her power to make herself into the best X-Woman that she was capable of being, Rogue appeared to be head and shoulders above her peers.

But, if you were able to look a little bit deeper and take a glimpse into the part of Rogue that the rest of the world could neither see nor touch, you would also know that not everything is as it appears. While Rogue took her responsibilities as an X-Man very seriously, and was more than ready to face any potential adversity at a moments notice, underneath her confident veneer she still had her own insecurities and issues to deal with, just like everyone else did.

Well, not quite like everyone else, to be exact.

Rogue regularly struggled internally with feelings of deep depression, feelings that seemed to hound her incessantly. Which were, ironically enough, caused by the fact that her mutant powers had robbed her of the ability to reach out and touch that same, semi-observant world that existed all around her. And, it was a reality that Rogue was constantly reminded of on a daily basis.

From the time that she awoke in the morning, Rogue's day always started the same. It would find her carefully picking out a wardrobe that, while remaining stylish and modestly fashionable, was capable of serving a more practical purpose. Rogue's clothes had less to do with comfort, than they did with ensuring that she didn't accidentally maim or kill someone with these strange powers that nature had given to her. Rogue's outfits generally left a minimal amount of her bare skin exposed, as to protect those around her from unintentionally having their memories, and their very life-force energies drained right out of them. And given the atypical make-up of the student body at Professor Xavier's school located on Greymalkin Lane, it also helped to prevent a mutant power transfer that, in a few cases, could prove to be as equally disastrous.

But, even more than the feelings that Rogue harbored regarding the often restrictive nature of the clothing that she wore, her gloomy mood could be attributed moreso to what she would see when she walked down the street, through the park, or on occasion when she happened to pass by the student rec-room in the mansion when Peter and Kitty, or Jubilee and Doug were in there. Rogue would sometimes stop and glance at them as they touched, hugged, and kissed, all without any fear or hesitation. And, it was something that this Mississippi-native desperately craved to experience again for herself, to not have to physically remain an island unto herself, which is what Rogue felt that she had basically become now, was the one thing that she wished for above anything else.

As Rogue now sat out by the estate's boathouse on this lazy summer afternoon, she wondered if couples like Kitty & Peter and Jubilee & Doug even realized how lucky they were? To be able to be romantically intimate with one another, to be able to just sensuously touch and express their feelings in the physical realm with each other? In other words, to be afforded the opportunity to do those things that normal couples usually took for granted, and to not have 'the kiss of death' as Rogue sometimes privately mused to herself about the true nature of her powers.

Although she had been battling with her bouts of discontentment for some time, Rogue had vowed to keep her own sensibilities on the subject to herself, and decided not to tell her friends and teammates about what she was feeling. It was mainly because Rogue didn't want any of them to start acting awkward around her, or to become self-conscious about affectionately embracing or touching one another while in her presence. But even more than that, Rogue just plain didn't want anyone taking pity or feeling sorry for the girl who, by accident of birth, had seemingly been cursed to spend the rest of her adult life void of knowing the unbridled touch of another.

With the air whipping gently around her, Rogue sat out on the small dock by the boathouse and took her hair out of the long ponytail that she usually kept it in, allowing the small wafts of air coming in off of the lake to bounce her brown and white tresses to and fro in the wind. Sitting out there, Rogue now also better understood why Bobby liked to come out to the boathouse by himself so much. The quiet and solitude to be experienced out there was in stark contrast to the constant, almost chaotic, noise flowing throughout the mansion most of the day, thanks to its other residents.

Sitting near the edge of the boathouse's dock on this somewhat breezy afternoon, Rogue gazed almost hypnotically out onto the lake's choppy waters in front of her. She then, unexpectedly, began to fantasize about what it would feel like if the day ever came when she could actually touch another person, particularly one Remy Lebeau. Rogue further imagined what it would be like to kiss him and let him kiss her back, for them to be able to hold and caress each other fully. Rogue also thought about what it would ultimately be like for them to finally be able to release all of their pent-up passion, which they had been holding back for so long, and to set their carnal desires loose in a very uninhibited, unrestrained manner.

But, the peaceful isolation of Rogue's current locale, and her rather risqué daydream, were abruptly interrupted when the object of her desires suddenly and unmistakably made his presence known to her.

"Shoulda figured I'd find you out here, _Cheré_." Remy Lebeau now said, as he walked up behind Rogue and onto the dock with her.

"Just out here catchin' a breath of fresh air, 'Sugah'." Rogue replied, still facing forward towards the lake as she quickly snapped out of the slightly embarrassing daydream that she had been entranced in.

As Remy came closer towards her, he saw that Rogue was sitting down on the wooden pier with her legs crossed over Indian-style close to its end, wearing a dark-green cut-off tank that was covered by a long-sleeved and loose-fitting, see-through white blouse. The blouse that she had on was made from a thin silk-like material, while the black pants that she had on were made from a somewhat thicker, almost spandex-type material, and was complimented by a pair of low-top black hiking boots.

As Rogue continued her fixed gaze out onto the large lake that sat on the school's property Remy went and took a seat next to her, dressed in a light-gray t-shirt that had the sleeves cut off from it and a simple pair of denim blue jeans. And almost immediately, Remy could tell that there was definitely something bothering his favorite girl.

"Dis is just downright cozy I s'ppose, 'specially when you compare it t'what de others were watchin' when I passed by de livin' room on my way out here." Remy casually commented, referring to the 'trash-TV' that some of the others loved to indulge in during the afternoon, hoping to at least bring a small smile to Rogue's face with his remark.

But, all Remy received in response was a small half-smile from Rogue, as she continued her aquatic observations out in front of her.

"Um, did I do somethin' dat got you upset at yours truly?" Remy now asked Rogue.

"Nah, at least not this time." Rogue finally turned to look at Remy, flashing him the smile that he had yet to tire of seeing, "Ah just got some things on my mind is all."

Remy proceeded to slide over across the wooden surface of the small boating dock towards Rogue, stopping once he was sitting right behind her. Remy then began to gently massage Rogue's shoulders, knowing how much she truly relished its tension-relieving effects.

As Rogue laid back and allowed herself to be wrapped up in Remy's reassuring embrace, she closed her eyes and savored every stroke of his touch. His hands seemed to glide across her back and shoulder blades, and despite being slightly impeded by her sheer blouse and the tanktop underneath it, his gentle caress still felt so natural, so close, so very real.

And, it made Rogue long to have more than just that. She then began to fantasize once again about how the smooth caress of Remy's bare hands would feel against her face, his warm lips pressed tightly against her, what it would be like to receive more from him--

"Wait, what am Ah thinkin'?" Rogue now thought to herself, as she very much wanted to give into those impulses that were clouding her normally very rational and very sound judgment.

Suddenly, Rogue pulled away from Remy and quickly stood up on the pier, then took a few steps away from him to create some much needed breathing room between them.

"What's wrong?" Remy asked her, as he now also stood up on the docking pier and was genuinely confused by Rogue's actions.

"There's nothing wrong, and that's what's got me worried." Rogue said, as she stood there looking back out onto the lake, wrapping her arms in front of her in a sort of self-embrace.

"You done went and completely lost me." Remy replied, still not understanding what was going on.

"Ah'm just afraid that if we start something that Ah won't know when to, or even want it to stop." Rogue now revealed, as she turned back around to face Remy.

"I been known to have dat effect on de opposite sex." Remy boastfully said, as an ever-confident smirk now came across his face.

"Yeah, well whether that's it or not, it's not a theory we can actually afford to test out." Rogue responded in a serious tone, although she couldn't help but smile just a little at Remy's antics, "You know what'll happen if we go too far."

"Maybe we know, and then again, maybe we don't. What if your powers don't work de same on everyone, and Gambit ends up bein' a part of dat lucky and exclusive group." Remy now said to her, as he came over to Rogue and took her gloved hand into his.

"C'mon, there's no point in us livin' in some fantasy world that's only gonna disappoint the both of us in the end. Ah've been down that road once already." Rogue told Remy, as she looked up at him, her dark-hued pupils fixed on his almost hypnotic red-on-black eyes.

"Who said I'm gon' be disappointed, 'specially 'wit you?" Remy now questioned Rogue, as he loved the sight of her long, unrestrained hair still being blown about in front of him, thanks to the cool breeze that was coming in from the lake on this warm summer day.

"It's only a matter of time. Ah mean, Ah'm sure one day you're gonna get tired of all of the hassles that come along with having a girlfriend you can't hardly touch. And, then…you'll eventually--" Rogue was saying, when Remy abruptly interrupted her.

"And, then I'll what? Go runnin' off somewhere wit' de first skirt dat comes by? Is dat de kinda man you t'ink I am?" Remy asked her, his tone relaying that he was more than a little hurt by her statement.

"No, Ah didn't mean it that way. All Ah'm sayin' is that you are a man, one Ah'm sure who's actually 'been' with other girls before." Rogue answered, as she had decided the time had come for her and Remy to be as open and frank as they possibly could. Rogue then decided to tell Remy about some of the anxieties that she had been feeling, going back to their return back home from Japan.

"Ah never brought the subject up before, but Ah know our situation's probably been botherin' you. Ah guess maybe it's just a little bit easier for me, because Ah really don't know all that much about what Ah'm missin' out on, but you do." Rogue honestly revealed to him.

"Get dis through yo' head here and now, I ain't missin' out nothin' by bein' wit' you." Remy unequivocally stated to this girl that had somehow managed to strike a nerve in him in a way that no other woman, not even his former fiancée Belladonna, had been able to do before, "Bein' wit' someone you ain't really in love wit' may feel real good for a while, but it don't last too long. And, I'm willin' to wait til it is de two of us."

"And what if that day never comes? Have you really sat down and thought about what that'll mean, and about all the things you'd be givin' up in the process?" Rogue inquired of him.

Rogue was now asking Remy the very question that she had many times asked of herself. Sometimes, it had even managed to keep Rogue up at night, as she would wonder how she would handle it if the Professor ultimately told her that he was unable to help her in finding a way to control her powers.

"Well, like you said, I am a man and I do t'ink about 'it' every now 'n then." Remy said with a bright smile on his face once again, as he came over at put his arms comfortingly around Rogue's waist, "But, what I do know is what I'd be givin' up, if I didn't stick around for you."

Then, without actually having to say it, Remy's gesture somehow, someway told Rogue that things would eventually find a way of working themselves out…

**…………………………………………**

(What, you didn't really think that was the end, did you?)

Rogue and Remy sat out at the dock's edge for some time after having their talk, quietly watching together as the lake reflected the rays of a now setting sun off of its surface. As they did, Remy had gone and laid down on the dock with his head securely in Rogue's lap, while she sat on the pier behind him with her legs still crossed over, slowly running her gloved hand through his slightly reddish-brown hair. Rogue would then alternate her gentle gesture by softly stroking the side of Remy's face, as the two of them were at last enjoying the peaceful solitude that Rogue had sought out there earlier in the day. Then, Remy spoke to her again.

"You know what'd make dis de perfect day?" Remy asked, as he now looked up at Rogue, his head still resting in her lap.

"What's that?" Rogue asked, as she now ran a gloved finger lightly back and forth across his forehead.

"If tonight, me and you do somethin' dat all de other couples do." Remy said with a slight smile, which caused Rogue's finger to stop its affectionate movement across his face, as she quickly balled her right hand up into a fist.

"**AhsweartoGod, Remy**! Ah will get up from here and knock you on your ass good, if you make another one of your smart-ass remarks about gettin' it on with me, or with any part of me, especially after everything Ah just told you out here!" Rogue sat and angrily warned him, displaying a genuinely riled-up disposition that wasn't seen too often from her.

"I don't t'ink you wanna hurt me, least not like dat anyways." Remy replied with his head still resting in Rogue's lap, as he looked up at her with a huge smirk across his face while he continued to egg on the situation.

"Do you really want to find out then?" Rogue dared him, as she raised an eyebrow and her face displayed a sort of scowling expression, all while she continued to hold her tightly balled fist up close to her shoulder.

"Easy, just calm down _Cheré_. Only t'ing I was gonna suggest was dat we go out for a night on de town You know, have a good time like other folks do." Remy now revealed his rather innocent proposal to her, "It's been a good while since we been out anywhere together."

"Oh." Rogue replied, her tone now almost instantly less tense, as she proceeded to unfurl the fist that her right hand had been in and began to gently stroke Remy's hair again, "Ah think it's a great idea and all, but Ah don't know what you're talkin' about us not goin' out? We just went to the movies last week with Kitty and Peter."

"I was talkin' about us goin' out together, not us AND _Petite_ 'n _Le Artiste_. I wanna make a real night of it, just de two of us." Remy explained.

"Okay, you're on. You just gotta give me a chance to go in and get ready." Rogue said, as she was about to stand up and head back towards the mansion.

"You ain't gotta be in no hurry, we got plenty of time. 'Sides, de major hot spots don't get goin' good for at least a few more hours anyways." Remy said, as he and Rogue continued sitting on the dock together and finished watching the sun set, before finally heading back inside after the dusk hour had passed.

**……………………………………..**

"Well, if you ain't de sight t'end all sights?" Remy now remarked, as he had been standing inside of the estate's spacious vehicle garage when Rogue entered in more than an hour after they left the boathouse.

Rogue came into the garage wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt that buttoned-up the front with silver pin-stripes that ran vertically up and down on it, and also had French cuffs that were the same silver color. Her blouse was worn with a pair of sheer, silver-colored gloves, and some very tight midnight-black jeans that she had poured herself into. Her jeans were tucked into her favorite black knee-high boots that zipped up on the back, which Rogue had put on intentionally since she had a good idea of the mode of transportation that she and Remy would be traveling on this evening.

"Ah see you came out here and got our 'chariot' all ready to go." Rogue humorously replied, as she walked towards Remy and now visually inspected him and his attire.

She immediately noticed that Remy had on a pricey looking olive-colored dress shirt that appeared to be made from real silk, and that he had left its top buttons undone in a very casual manner. Remy was also wearing a pair of loden-brown pants that were cut in a fit-flight style, and a pair of expensive shoes made from brown, Italian-leather.

As she continued over across the garage, Rogue also saw that Remy was standing next to a very familiar blue motorcycle. It was the same motorcycle that, by this point, no one in the mansion was quite sure who was really the owner of anymore.

"It's all ready and waitin', so we can get outta here and paint de town red, blue, green and whatever other colors we might fancy." Remy told her, as he bowed slightly with one hand held out and politely gestured for Rogue to come take her seat on the bike with him.

"Then, let's not delay." Rogue playfully responded, as she gave him a very brief curtsy and continued towards him.

Remy got onto the bike first and started it up, with Rogue coming over and getting on right behind him. As they prepared to make their departure, Remy followed Rogue's lead and put on one of the helmets that had been hanging on the bike's handle. Remy did so this time, as to try and avoid having to hear another lecture from Rogue about how he had better put his helmet on so that she, in her words, 'wouldn't have to scrape whatever was left of his fat-head off of the pavement' if something went wrong while they were riding.

**…………………………………….**

The leisurely, night-time cruise through Westchester's back roads flew by fairly quickly for Rogue and Remy, before hitting the major highway that ran right down to New York City. In no time at all, it seemed that they were entering the outskirts of The Big Apple. As they made their way through the city's traffic, which was still fairly congested, Remy and Rogue headed down one street just so they could turn onto another one, as they sought out a place that Remy had heard about, a new club called _The Hades Lounge_.

"So, this is the hotspot you were talkin' about?" Rogue now said, after she and Remy had slowly ridden on the bike down the four-lane main drag that ran right in front of the club, and were now pulling into the parking lot behind the building.

"I heard De Hades Lounge is s'pposed t'be de hottest." Remy replied, as the motorcycle came to a stop in the spot where a parking attendant had directed them to. Remy then handed his helmet to Rogue, and she locked them together on a chain attached to the back right-side of the bike.

"Well, let's go find out whether you heard right." Rogue said to him, as Remy proceeded to take her gloved hand into his, and they both walked back around the exterior of the building to its front entrance together.

After having to stand in line for nearly a half an hour under the glow of a huge and brightly lit neon sign with the club's name on it, the adventurous couple finally made it to the front door of the club. Where they now had to contend with the inevitable rude bouncer.

"Club's twenty-one and up only, I'm gonna need to see some ID." A bald, very large, and bulky bouncer wearing a black t-shirt and jeans brusquely said, as he looked down at Rogue and Remy from the top of the small staircase that led up to the club's entrance.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Remy replied, as his plans had now hit a snag that he hadn't anticipated. He smiled and looked back up at the bouncer through a pair of stylish, custom-made shades, which he had put on to help conceal what many would consider to be his most distinguishing physical attribute.

The shades had been made specifically for Remy back at the mansion, utilizing the same machine that Professor Xavier had built to use in fashioning the ruby-quartz glasses that Scott wore. But, the ones that Remy had on weren't made with ruby-quartz lenses in them. Rather, they had moderately-tinted lenses that served to hide his red and black eyes. In addition to their cosmetic duties, Remy's shades also allowed him to see out of them perfectly whether it was during the day or at night, thanks to the special light-filtering capabilities of the glasses. Remy then proceeded to quickly shuffle through the half-dozen fake ID's in his pocket that all listed different birthdates, addresses, and aliases for this former member of the Thieves' Guild, doing so without drawing any undue attention to himself and finally pulling one out to give to the bouncer.

But, then Remy realized that Rogue wouldn't be able to deal as easily with the bouncer's request, as she was only a couple of months past her eighteen birthday. That's why Remy was shocked when the girl standing next to him calmly pulled an ID out of the small purse in her hand, which stated that she was twenty-two, and handed it to the bouncer up at the door.

The bouncer took his time looking at both Rogue's and Remy's ID's, performing his own thorough examination of them. Eventually, he did step aside and allowed the couple to go into The Hades Lounge. After paying their cover charge to a young lady at a small counter just inside of the door, the couple ventured further into the crowded club and managed to find an empty booth that was towards the back. Rogue and Remy then sat down for a minute, before he curiously inquired of her as to how she had been able to pull off her amazing feat, which was akin to pulling a proverbial rabbit out of her purse.

"It's lucky for us you had it, but how'd you come up wit' those doctored credentials?" Remy asked her, wording his question in a way so that he wouldn't arouse the attention of anyone nearby working undercover security for the club. But, with as loud as the music was playing, with the DJ currently spinning Beck's E-Pro at a seemingly ear-splitting decibel, it was a miracle that Rogue was even able to hear Remy at all.

"Well…there's this older guy Ah know. And sometimes, he likes to go and give me special things like that, things that usually come in mighty handy." Rogue playfully replied from across the table, with a big smile on her face.

Rogue was of course referring to Professor Xavier and how he had given her, Bobby, and Peter each fake ID's to allow them to enter certain places without being hassled. But, one would have to wonder if using their fake ID's to go clubbing was exactly what Professor Xavier had in mind when he had given them to his three oldest students.

"Anyways, I'm gon' go head up to the bar and get somethin'. What you want I should get for you?" Remy now asked Rogue, as he slid back across the leather-cushioned seat of the dimly-lit booth that they were sitting at.

"Just a soda, Ah guess." Rogue told him, as the booming beat from the music continued playing throughout the club.

"I figured you'd want me t'get you somethin' a little stronger, while you got de opportunity?" Remy asked, as he sat at the edge of the booth's seat looking over at her.

"Nah, if he does find about how Ah got in here tonight, Ah don't wanna have to explain to the Professor what Ah was doin' in here AND why Ah was drinkin' on top of that." Rogue responded, as she genuinely felt a little bad for using her fake ID tonight, which was supposed to only be used on missions or for emergencies.

With that, Remy nodded and walked across the spacious dance-floor next to them, its multitude of brightly colored strobe-lights flashing off him and the numerous other individuals out there, as he proceeded over to one of the bar stations located in the center of The Hades Lounge.

Meanwhile, Rogue sat back in the bench seat of their booth and watched all of the people out on the dance floor, noticing that some of the couples were dancing very closely together out there. Rogue then looked upwards and noticed that the DJ's booth perched up above was surrounded by an intriguingly intricate system, one which shot flames up out of small metal cylinders around the DJ booth in a timed sequence with the strobe-lights as they flashed throughout the club.

Then, Rogue happened to overhear a couple talking, as they slowly walked by on the other side of a screened partition next to the booth that she was seated in.

"…club is pretty slammin'. Whoever owns it's put some MAJOR cash into this place." Rogue heard a male voice say.

"Yeah, I heard from someone I know that works here that this place is owned by some rich guy, I'm talkin' MEGA-rich. They said he bought it out from the previous owners a few months back, and had it completely remodeled. Then he went and gave it to his son, some guy named Shinobi Shaw, who's supposed to be runnin' it for him. But, the girl I know said he's only set foot in this place like once or twice." A female voice now replied.

"Not keepin' up with things, that's a sure way to put yourself outta business reeaal quick." The male voice told her, as they continued along the small aisle on the opposite side of Rogue's booth towards an exit.

Rogue looked through the dark screen up next to the booth, and tried to see who was talking. But, she was unable to make out who they were, and just as quickly they were gone and out of her hearing range. A few more minutes passed by before Remy finally returned from his journey over to the bar, now walking back to their table carrying two drinks in his hands.

"Here we go, two sodas." Remy smiled and said to Rogue, as he sat one of the glasses in front of her, and then went and sat down on the other side of the booth with his.

"You didn't have to do that on my account, if you want to go back and get you somethin'--" Rogue started, when Remy interrupted her.

"Don't worry none, it ain't no big deal. 'Sides, I'm gettin' juiced just bein' here wit' you." Remy flirtatiously told her.

"So, are you tryin' to say Ah have a pretty intoxicatin' effect on you then?" Rogue smiled and sarcastically asked, as she took a sip from her soda.

"Dat's one way of puttin' it. I t'ink I just might need t'have a breathalyzer done before de night is through." Remy replied, as he continued to lay his charming words on pretty thick.

"You know, If Ah ever get to meet that brother of yours that you're always tellin' me about, Ah'm gonna have to ask him if you were really a world-famous thief, or just the greatest bullshit artist alive." Rogue laughingly said, as she slowly stirred at her soda with a small red straw that had been provided in it and took another few sips.

"Well, you more than welcome t'ask him when dat day comes. But in de mean time, you can judge for yourself just how good of a dancer I am." Remy said, as he downed most of the contents of his glass in a single gulp, and then caught Rogue off-guard when he quickly took her by the hand. Remy tugged at her to come with him out onto the club's huge dance floor, and was so insistent that he barely gave Rogue a chance to grab her small handbag sitting on the seat next to her.

As Remy led Rogue out onto the floor the two of them began to dance together, almost immediately their movements began to flow together in a single rhythm to the more upbeat techno music now playing. Rogue herself was more than genuinely surprised at how good of a natural dancer that Remy actually was, as she had never seen him dance before period, let alone with her. But, they moved so smoothly together in unison, it looked as though Rogue and Remy had been spending a good deal of time practicing together.

Remy stayed right behind Rogue, as she showed off the various steps that Jubilee had taught her and Remy displayed what he had picked up in various nightclubs on his travels across the globe. Soon, Remy placed his hands up around Rogue's shoulders before he slowly slid them down the sleeves of her blouse, smoothly navigating the obviously developed curves of this woman in front of him. Remy finally stopped and let his hands rest on Rogue's shapely hips with a semi-firm grip, as the two of them continued to slowly gyrate and grind together to the song that was playing.

Once again, Rogue found herself being hypnotized and seduced into Remy's tantalizing embrace, as she pressed her own body back ever closer into his, looking back slightly and placing her right gloved-hand up caressingly against his face behind her. Rogue then closed her eyes and allowed herself to become lost in the moment, surrendering herself to Remy's control as he guided her body's movements and put them completely into synch with his own.

As the music moved from techno to hip-hop to rock to R&B and everything in between, Rogue and Remy continued dancing together alongside the other people out on the dance floor, and did so without missing a beat. After going non-stop for the better part of an hour through both faster dance songs and slower love songs, Remy and Rogue finally decided to take a break and came back over to their booth to take a seat.

"Ah'm sooo hot." Rogue stated, as she and Remy sat back down at their table booth together.

"Dat you are." Remy smirked, replying to her in matter-of-fact tone.

"Ah'm bein' serious! Ah'm sure Ah must look like a wreck." Rogue told him from across the table, as she fanned herself with her hand and tried to catch her breath following their marathon session out on the dance floor.

"You look ravishing as ever. 'Sides, you know what they say, 'When you sweat, sometimes you gon' get wet'." Remy affably retorted to her from across the table.

With that, Rogue just smiled at him and shook her head, then getting up to head to the ladies room. After she had made a quick check to her makeup, Rogue returned to the table where she found that Remy had ordered two more sodas for them. Once they had sat and gotten a chance to regain some of their stamina, Rogue and Remy were both back out on the dance floor again, letting themselves take absolute pleasure in the release that they received from being out there together.

And it's the main reason why, since Rogue and Remy were having such a good time out there together, that their festive night didn't end until the wee hours of the morning.

**………………………………………….**

As the closing time for the club had come and gone, Rogue and Remy found themselves walking back around outside of The Hades Lounge, heading to their bike and preparing for their ride back home.

"Well, Ah'll say this. You sure do know how to show a girl a good time." Rogue cheerfully said to Remy, as they walked to the parking lot in the back of club together.

"It wasn't dat hard, since dis girl looked like she just wanted to have herself a little fun anyways." Remy smiled and looked over at Rogue walking next to him, his fingers completely intertwined with her gloved ones as they held hands, "We gon' have t'go 'n do dis again sometime real soon."

"Yeah, but maybe we should find someplace where we don't have to worry about lyin' about our ages to get into." Rogue replied, as she looked up at him and they continued across the parking lot together.

"I say you more than earned the right t'have a little fun wherever you want, 'specially wit' all dat extra work you put in back at de school." Remy was telling Rogue, when they suddenly heard…

**AAIIIIIEEEE!**

Rogue and Remy stopped in their tracks, and turned back towards the parking lot entrance. They saw a young woman standing there on the sidewalk that ran right in front of the club, who had dark brunette hair and was wearing a tightly-fitting dress. She looked to be another club patron that had just come out behind them, and they saw that she was struggling with another man that was pulling at the purse hanging off of her shoulder.

"Ah think that lady's gettin' mugged." Rogue said to Remy, as they stood close to their bike and watched what was happening.

In the blink of an eye, the mugger forcefully ripped the purse away from the screaming woman, and then he gave her a hard shove to the ground before he took off running down the sidewalk in a direction away from the club, now firmly clutching the purse in his hand.

"You feel like playin' the good Samaritan?" Rogue asked Remy, as neither of them saw a police officer or any members of the club's security in the immediate vicinity to come to the aid of this poor woman that had just been assailed.

"Sure, why not?" Remy smiled and responded, as Rogue now gave him his second surprise of the night. Rogue quickly grabbed the set of bike keys that Remy had in his hand, and then astutely jumped onto the back of the blue motorcycle, starting it up like a professional rider.

"C'mon 'n get on." Rogue said to Remy, as she revved the motorcycle's engine and prepared for them to take off.

"Since when do you know how t'drive one of these?" Remy questioned her.

"Since Logan taught me. Now, are we gonna spend all night goin' on about my qualifications to operate this motor vehicle, or are we gonna go catch us a bad guy?" Rogue now looked up and asked him.

To that, Remy didn't say anything further. Instead, he hopped onto the back of the bike with Rogue as it peeled out and sped off, and they blew right past the woman that had just been robbed.

As they sped down the street heading in the same direction of where the mugger had gone, Rogue and Remy soon spotted him still running down the sidewalk. They saw him nearing an alley opening in between a couple of buildings by the sidewalk, and Remy knew that they probably wouldn't be able to catch him if he got the chance to reach it. So, Remy stood up on the back of the still moving bike in a semi-crouching position, waiting as Rogue further accelerated down the street to get closer to the mugger. Then, Remy leapt forward in an incredible manner, tackling and slamming the mugger down hard to the concrete pavement.

Figuring to cut his losses against this apparent maniac, who obviously wanted the purse far worse than he did, the mugger simply let it go. He then managed to pick himself up from the sidewalk, leaving Remy behind as he ducked over and disappeared into the alleyway. In the meantime, Rogue had continued down the street on the speeding bike, but had now turned it around so that she could come back for her partner in civilian justice.

"Not too bad." Rogue smirkingly remarked to Remy, as she and the bike both came to a running rest on the street, while a parked car and the street curb sat in between them.

"My dismount was perfect, if I do say so myself. But, even I'll admit my landin' leaves a bit to be desired." Remy responded in kind, as he now started back over towards the bike. As he did, a few innocent New York bystanders who happened to be on in a position to see what had transpired, stared in astonishment at the departing pair.

Once Remy was back on the bike with Rogue, they drove back up the street towards The Hades Lounge, although this time at a much slower rate. As they neared the club, they saw that the woman who had been mugged was still standing there, now with a few other people gathered around her that had just come out of the club. Then, as it came to a rolling stop, Remy jumped off of the bike so that he could go over and complete his good deed of the day, or night technically.

"I believe dis belongs t'you." Remy happily announced, as he brought the purse over to the woman, who was still visibly shaken and very upset by what had happened to her.

But, whether it had to do with the trauma of the incident or not, Remy certainly did not receive anything close to the appreciative response that he was expecting.

"It's…it's alright, you can keep it." The woman said to Remy, as she took a few steps back from him.

"Nah, see Robin Hood don't work dat way, and neither does yours truly." Remy good-naturedly replied, as he beamed a smile at her and took a few more steps towards the woman, which caused her to turn around completely and walk off briskly in the opposite direction on the sidewalk.

"What got into her?" Rogue now asked, still sitting on the bike as she slowly wheeled it up next to the curb close to Remy. But, as he stood there on the sidewalk holding this lady's purse in his hand, it suddenly hit Remy as to what was wrong.

"I don't t'ink she was much enjoyin' de view she was gettin'." Remy answered Rogue, still watching as the woman who had been mugged continued on down the street, and was soon out of view.

"This time of the mornin', there ain't gonna be a whole lot to see out here in front of this club." Rogue remarked, not yet getting what Remy was referring to.

"Actually, I was talkin' 'bout dis view, _Cheré_." Remy said as he turned around and walked towards Rogue, pointing up to his face.

Rogue looked up and now realized that Remy was no longer wearing his shades, which had probably been knocked off during his tussle with the mugger. As the other bystanders in front of the club stared at him without trying to be obvious, Remy was reminded that it had been some time since he had been confronted directly with the attitudes of those not yet ready to accept him, and other mutants like him, because of those physical traits that they thought were weird and different.

It was something that also took Remy back to the days of his childhood, when his powers first began emerging and a few of the other kids would refer to him as 'demon-eyes' behind his back, and on occasion, right to his face. It was one reason that he and Kurt had connected to an extent, as Remy had a first-hand understanding of what it felt like to be shunned by those around him just because of what he looked like.

"Well, you don't need to go worryin' yourself about what some other gal does or doesn't like, 'cause Ah think the view's just as lovely as can be." Rogue warmly told Remy, as she could tell how much this woman's reaction had bothered him.

Rogue then reached up from the bike that she was sitting on and ran a lone gloved-finger down the side of Remy's face, before giving him a tender and reassuring tap down on his chin.

"Now, what do you say we call it a night and make us some major tracks back up to Westchester, 'Robin Hood'?" Rogue jokingly asked him, before she loudly revved the engine on the bike once again.

"I say what're we waitin' for?" Remy replied, as he was now able to grin in his response and went to get onto the back of the bike with Rogue.

Remy took the purse left to him, and secured it next to him on the bike. Then, he put on the helmet that had been handed to him by Rogue, right before the bike peeled out and roared off down the street running in front of The Hades Lounge.

As they made their way back down the numerous streets that eventually led them to the major-highway running north from New York City, there was a single, persistent thought running through Remy's mind that brought a noticeable smile to his face, even if it was concealed underneath his helmet-

_"Yeah, dis one she's definitely worth any kinda wait…"_

**…………………………………………………**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**Doza**- It's funny you should mention the lack of Logan in these stories, there's a good reason for that. Let's just say something major, I mean MAJOR is coming up involving him in Japan. Plus, there'll be some other stuff going on about the same time, bringing in one of Marvel's most popular non-X characters into the mix too, so stay tuned.

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you liked the Tarot stuff. Um, and I hope you were near something soft when you fainted, else it just might leave a mark…

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked the story centered on Tab, John, and the rest of the gang. As far as Alison and Scott, don't worry because things can only continue to heat up where they're concerned…

**El Varon**- As far as being clues, Destiny said it herself: Anything is possible.


	10. Stories 24 and 25

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**………………………………………….**

Story 24- True Colors

Location: _The Salem Center Mall, Westchester County_

Located right on the outer northern edge of the boundary that surrounded Salem Center proper, sits a sprawling retail complex in this part of mid-New York State. Not all that different from those shopping malls found in most other cities and towns across the United States, Salem Center's Mall had originally been built in a section of town set aside for commercial and business development, an area collectively referred to by its residents as New Salem Center. While serving a vital economic role for this suburban community, the mall had also seen a number of renovations, remodelings, and expansions in that time as well.

But, the one thing that remained much the same in all of that time, was that of the Salem Center Mall continuing to serve as the choice destination for those teenagers and young adults in the general surrounding area that came there to gather and socialize together.

Case in point were two such individuals, who happened to be out on an excursion of their own to the mall on this day.

"So, whad'ja think?" Jubilee was the first to speak, as she inquired the opinion of her blonde companion this evening. He was dressed in a simple, short-sleeved brown polo-shirt and dark-colored pants, as they exited the enormous multi-plex movie theatre built inside of the Salem Center Mall.

"It was okay. It wasn't that bad of a movie or anything, I guess, and lots of action is always a plus." Doug Ramsey replied while walking beside Jubilee, as the couple came out into the mall loosely holding hands together.

They were greeted by the sight of a sizable crowd of other individuals around their own age, all standing and waiting in line in front of the movie theatre within the mall.

"Guess next time instead of Mr. And Mrs. Smith, we'll have'ta check out somethin' else." Jubilee sarcastically remarked, as she looked up at a line of posters on the movie theatre's wall, which by now this late in the summer was listing almost all of the season's blockbusters that had already come out, "Maybe even Star Wars, so we can get us a mega-dose of all that heavy-breathing action. Although, me and some of the guys at school went and saw it right after it opened."

"Yeah, I've seen it three times already." Doug told her, as he and his girlfriend who were out on a date, walked out further into the mall together.

_"Talk about déjà-freakin'-vu."_ Jubilee thought to herself, as she was reminded of Kitty's own repeat viewership of the movie, and of her overall obsession with Star Wars in general. Then, Jubilee gave a response to Doug's statement.

"Anyways, I'm learnin' how to cope with all you 'light-sabre junkies'. So, just as long as you don't come here dressed up as a Stormtrooper, then we'll be cool." Jubilee told him.

"No way, I'd never dress go anywhere dressed up like a Stormtrooper." Doug looked over at Jubilee, reassuringly putting his arm around her waist, "I mean, my friends say my Chewbacca costume is light years better."

"Uhhh…huh..." Jubilee very slowly articulated, giving her boyfriend a strange and unsure look, as she looked over at him and stood evaluating whether this option was truly the preferable alternative.

That is, until Doug could no longer keep a straight face and started laughing out loud.

"I wish I owned a camera-phone, so I could catch the expression on your face right now. It's priceless!" Doug playfully said to her, as Jubilee took a step away from him, breaking the romantic one-arm embrace that they had been in.

"You're, like, ohhh-so funny." Jubilee said, as she gave him a pouty-smile in response, now realizing that Doug had been putting her on.

Then, Doug and Jubilee once again interlaced their hands together, and continued on through the mall, heading for its Food Court. That is, until something caught Jubilee's eye.

"Say, just hang here for a sec." Jubilee told Doug, as they paused their journey with her pointing over at a display window for a clothing store, which carried only the latest and hottest fashions, "That skirt is madd hot, I have a blue sweater at home that it would sooo go with."

Jubilee then gave Doug a quick kiss on the side of his face before heading over to the clothing shop's entrance to find aforementioned skirt, swearing to him that she would be right back. But by now, Doug and Jubilee had been going out long enough that he had a better understanding of what 'right back' could mean, and promptly found a nearby mall bench to have a seat on.

As he sat there, Doug found various ways to keep himself occupied. One such way was a little game that he liked to play when he was alone, which he referred to as 'reading'. He would sit and observe people that he didn't know, such as the other mall shoppers walking all around him, and he would try to guess what their personalities were like based on their body language and how they carried themselves. What Doug soon came to learn was that he had actually gotten pretty good at it, and was usually pretty accurate with his assumptions whenever he would get the chance to talk to one of those individuals that he had been observing.

But, Doug's perceptive postulations were suddenly interrupted, when someone who had come down the escalator behind the bench that he was sitting on, unexpectedly came up and spoke to him.

"What's up, Doug?" Lawrence, who also went to Hamilton High with him said, as he came and took a seat next to Doug on the bench, striking up a conversation with him in spite of the fact that they could barely even be considered to be casual acquaintances of one another.

While Doug spent most of his extra time at school participating in its computer club and other academic extracurricular activities, Lawrence was one of the school's athletes-extraordinaire, excelling in sports like football, basketball, and baseball. And it was rare, as in never, that members of these two circles intermingled with the other at Hamilton.

"Um, how's it goin'?" Doug replied, as he reluctantly engaged Lawrence's very firm handshake, after he had sat down next to him amidst a crowd that was passing them by on both sides of the bench.

"So, you like comin' to the mall and sittin' out here all by yourself alot or somethin'?" Lawrence asked him, doing so in a mocking tone that Doug and his friends had become accustomed to hearing from the 'jocks' at school.

"I'm not here by myself." Doug clarified for him, "I'm just sittin' here, waiting for my girlfriend to come back."

"Really?" Lawrence remarked, as he started to laugh a little, "And, since when does a computer geek like you find time to have a girlfriend?"

"Since before summer started." Doug informed him, and wondered why he couldn't also get a break at least during the summer from the harassment that he already had to endure from Lawrence and his crew for most of the year.

"Let me guess, she doesn't go to our school either?" Lawrence said, with heavy skepticism in his voice as he looked over at Doug.

"Actually, yeah, she sure doesn't." Doug replied, with a fair amount of sarcasm on his part now.

"I guess you're also gonna tell me that she's had some sudden family emergency, which's why she's nowhere in sight now?" Lawrence smirked, as he continued voicing his doubts about the existence of Doug's alleged girlfriend.

"More like a fashion emergency. But, you don't have to take my word for it, she's right over there." Doug told Lawrence, as he now pointed over towards the small clothing boutique close by.

Jubilee could be seen inside through the entrance, standing by one of the clothing racks within as she tried to decide whether or not she really wanted the skirt that she had seen in the display case outside.

"Which one?" Lawrence inquired, as there were a few other young ladies in the store that were also shopping alongside Jubilee.

"She has on the pink and black top." Doug further pointed out, as Lawrence finally realized who Doug was talking about, seeing the girl who also had on a very noticeable pair of large, silver-hooped earrings with huge 'X's' embossed in the center of each of them.

But, that wasn't the only thing that Lawrence noticed about her.

"Oh. Her." Lawrence replied, his tone far from being enthusiastic after seeing who Doug's girlfriend was.

"And, what is that supposed to mean?" Doug now inquisitively replied.

"Nothin', man. Just forget I said it." Lawrence told him.

"No, if you have something to say, then just come on out and say it." Doug said, now in a slightly demanding tone.

"I didn't think you were actually into girls like that." Lawrence replied, as he looked over at Doug and rolled his eyes in a snobbish manner, expressing an obvious disdain for Doug's romantic choice.

"Girls like what?" Doug continued with his line of questioning, although by now he had a pretty good idea of what Lawrence meant. But still, Doug wanted to give Lawrence the benefit of the doubt, until he actually heard the words come out of his mouth.

"I just meant Japanese girls, that's all." Lawrence stated for him, now being far less subtle with what he had meant.

"Well, I am into girls that are witty, beautiful, and that also just happen to be Asian-American, or any other race for that matter. But, compared to the ones I've seen you with, I guess we're really not into the same thing now are we? Especially, on the first two counts." Doug stated for Lawrence, as he raised his voice more than just a little bit.

"Huh? **That supposed to be some kinda cut on Charlene**, **Dork**!" Lawrence defensively replied, as the more muscular teen shot up from the bench and stared Doug down.

"You tell me." Doug responded, as he stood up also and their demeanors grew more intense towards the other by the second.

Doug now fully expected Lawrence to punch him out right there, and proceed to pound on him for his derisive remark about one of the school's top cheerleaders, who was also one of the most popular girls in the entire school, but Doug didn't care. Any potential risk to his own safety and welfare was well worth it, particularly when it came to defending the honor of his own girlfriend.

"Hmmph, whatever man." Lawrence told Doug, as he shook his head and waved his hand in a swiping motion, before he turned and quickly left.

Lawrence's actions implied to Doug that he simply wasn't worth the time, or the headache of Lawrence having to deal with the mall's security because of the two of them fighting on the premises. About a minute after Lawrence's departure, Jubilee came out of the store and hurried over towards Doug with a shopping bag in her hand.

"What was that all about?" Jubilee worriedly questioned him, as she had been able to see from the cash register inside of the store that there was some kind of verbal, and almost physical, confrontation going on between Doug and Lawrence.

"We were having…a difference of opinion, that's all." Doug said to Jubilee, as he was still fuming over the incident, and had since taken a seat back down on the bench once Lawrence had left. Doug now sat looking down at the brown and white tiled mall floor, attempting to avoid going into the offensive details of what their exchange was really about.

"Well, it looked like it was more than just some difference of opinion to me. More like 'muscles' was wantin' to do you some major damage, if anything." Jubilee replied and probed further, as she could see that whatever their disagreement had been about, it had upset Doug to the point that his usually mellow personality was completely absent at the moment.

"Well, our difference had to do with him being a prejudiced bonehead, and I took exception to that." Doug finally revealed, as he looked up at Jubilee from the bench, before he stood back up from it.

"What, did he know I'm a mutant?" Jubilee now asked, as she came over and stood very close to Doug, speaking to him in a softer, whispering tone.

"No, it's something more obvious than that." Doug replied, as he figured that Jubilee did have a right to know what had been said about her, "He had a problem with you being Japanese. I started to correct him and tell him that your parents had actually immigrated here from China, but I didn't really see it doing much good, or making a dent through his thick skull anyways."

"C'mon, you should've at least told that guy I was part of the cool Asians clique." Jubilee remarked, as she instantly reverted to using sarcasm as a defensive mechanism, which was how she had learned to deal with painful or emotionally stressful situations.

But, Jubilee had as of late become so preoccupied with worrying about all of the problems associated with her being a mutant, that she had forgotten how much plain, good old-fashioned racism sucked.

And, how much it hurt. Which Doug could now see in her demeanor and her body language, as he came over and put his arms around Jubilee and hugged her.

"You want to go ahead and head back home?" Doug now asked Jubilee, as he stood back and released her from his embrace, wondering if she might want to just call it a night.

Jubilee then stood there in silence for a moment, as she thought about his offer and about what she now wanted to do.

"**Screw that**! I'm not gonna let some dickhead ruin our night." Jubilee smirked and ardently told Doug, as she gave him a kiss on the side of his face.

"Then, what do you want to do?" Doug continued asking, requesting her opinion of what their next activity of the night should be.

"Why don't we head for Harry's, and see if there's anything major happenin' there?" Jubilee suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Doug responded, as he put his arm back around Jubilee, and they strode out hand-in-hand together, heading for the mall's exit and the parking lot outside.

Doug and Jubilee's next destination would be a small local diner known as Harry's Hideaway, which just like the mall, continued to endure as a time-honored gathering place for many of Salem Center's teenagers.

**………………………………………………..**

Story 25- A Kitten No More (Flashback)

Location: _Deerfield__, Illinois_

Upon first impression, it would appear that Deerfield was your typical, American suburban community. With a modestly low crime rate, a moderate to high average income among its residents, and being able to boast having a top-notch public school system, Deerfield was where the affluent flocked to raise their families, hopefully giving their children the best start that they possibly could.

But, following lengthy and considerable discussions within one of its numerous households, Carmen and Terri Pryde had come to the conclusion that Deerfield was no longer where their daughter Katherine should remain. Having spent a good portion of this afternoon speaking with Professor Charles Xavier, a highly respected expert in the field of education along with a member of his faculty Dr. Jean Grey, the Prydes' had decided to send their only child to Professor Xavier's private school located in upstate New York.

It was a decision that, while difficult enough for her parents, was most certainly was not sitting well with Kitty at the moment either. Especially, when considering the rather unique set of circumstances that had drawn Professor Xavier to Deerfield in the first place.

"Kitty, are you out here?" Jean Grey said, as she stepped out of the backdoor of the Pryde residence on this crisp, late winter evening.

Dressed in a conservative black pantsuit, which she was wearing with a cream-colored turtleneck sweater underneath her coat jacket, Jean stood on the back porch and surveyed the area on this mostly cloudy day. Not seeing Kitty anywhere in sight, Jean closed her eyes and then turned to another means of locating the young teen, who had stormed off during their conversation with her, her parents, and the Professor. Jean now utilized the low-level telepathic abilities, which had been afforded to her thanks to her mutant powers. At the speed of thought Jean was able to quickly locate Kitty, who was sitting up in a tree house less than a dozen yards away from her.

"Kitty, can I come up?" Jean called out to her, after she had walked across most of the large backyard that struggled to hold onto the last vestiges of winter's icy grip, with spring now just around the corner. Jean came and stood at the bottom of a huge and aged oak tree out there, looking up to the tree house right above her.

"It's a free country. Besides, it's not like I can stop you anyways." Jean heard a voice reply from within the tree house, and thus accepted the less than friendly invite from Kitty to come join her.

After climbing up the ladder that led through an opening in the center of the tree house's floor, Jean ventured further into the structure that looked to be almost five-feet in height, and eight-feet by eight-feet space wise on the floor. Jean saw that Kitty, who was wearing a yellow knit sweater and blue jeans that came to a slight flare at the cuff, was sitting on the tree house's wooden floor with her back up against one of its walls, her legs drawn up close into her chest.

As Jean took in the sight of the younger girl sitting in there, she could tell from Kitty's appearance with her shortly-cut, chestnut brown hair, which was in stark contrast to her own longer, almost fire-red locks currently tied back into a single ponytail, that the teenager was still very upset. Kitty looked as though she had been crying this entire time, ever since she had run out here after storming out on their living room conversation.

"Just so you know, I'm not gonna go to your school for circus freaks." Kitty defiantly imparted upon Jean, her voice cracking with pain as she sat up against the wall and looked away from the older woman, staring off into space out of the tree house's paned-window.

"It's not like that, not at all." Jean tried to reassure Kitty, as she sat down on the wooden floor facing right across from her.

"Easy for you to say, you just work there." Kitty replied, as she still looked off into space and gave Jean a taste of her snappy sarcasm, which seemed to surface when she really got upset.

"True, I do work there. But, our students are treated just as any student with special needs would be. We're there to help you, to help anyone that's a--" Jean was saying, when Kitty abruptly interrupted her.

"A freak." Kitty huffily finished for her, as she folded her arms over in front of her.

"I was going to say, anyone that's a mutant." Jean corrected her.

"Mutant's just the politically correct way of describin' how the rest of the world looks at people…at weird people like me." Kitty said, as her fairly astute observation quickly gave way to a fresh round of tears, which now began to pour out of her.

Jean could certainly understand why Kitty was so upset, now that her entire world had essentially been turned upside down, all thanks to a genetic quirk that she had been born with. Jean immediately thought back to when she wasn't that much younger than this thirteen year-old girl before her, when she first discovered that she also had these strange new powers that she could barely fathom, let alone understand or control on her own.

Jean also remembered just how scared she was on the day when her powers first unwittingly emerged. As her best friend Annie lay dying in her arms, after being the victim of a hit-and-run driver, Jean wound up experiencing her friend's death on a telepathic level on the side of a road that ran close to their houses. It was such a horrific experience that it resulted in having an unimaginably traumatic effect on Jean for years afterward.

"I know everything has been pretty rough since you found out you were a mutant, and I know how scared you must feel, but believe me things will get better." Jean reached over and touched Kitty on her shoulder, trying to comfort and once again reassure her.

"You know? How would know about any of this? You don't know what it's like to have your parents act like they're all of a sudden ashamed of you, and want to send you away because now you're the family embarrassment! And, all you know about being a mutant is what you've heard about, so I don't want to hear anything about what you know--" Kitty disparagingly shouted, as she finally turned her attention from the window to look at Jean, her tear-stained face and reddened puffy eyes now focused intensely on her.

"Young lady, I know a lot more than you could probably imagine." Jean now interrupted, as she decided that it was time for her to reveal to Kitty just how much she actually did 'know' about being a mutant, closing her eyes and raising her right hand up out in front of her.

Without warning, one of Kitty's old Barbie dolls, which had been left abandoned out in the tree house for some time now, rose up from its dollhouse over in the corner that it had been laying beside. Then, the doll began to slowly float all around the tree house, startling Kitty when it came over and hung in the air suspended right in front of her.

"How…how'd you do that?" Kitty now asked Jean in a fairly astonished tone, her eyes now wide-open after seeing this feat.

"Let's just say I have a little first-hand experience in knowing what it's like to be a mutant myself. And usually, its without the hands." Jean tried to humor Kitty, referring to her other mutant gift of telekinesis, which she had just put on display for Kitty.

Jean then used her powers to gently drop the doll into Kitty's lap, which Kitty sat and looked at longingly. Kitty now visually examined the Barbie doll, wishing that she could go back to those days in her life when everything was so much simpler. She didn't have to deal with being a mutant, and the most stressful thing that she had to worry about was picking out which outfits Barbie and her friends were going to wear today.

"You know, I haven't thought about this Barbie or this tree house in a long time. Today's probably the first time I've been up here in a couple years at least." Kitty now said, as she looked down and tightly held onto the Barbie doll that Jean had dropped into her lap, now feeling more comfortable in talking to Dr. Grey. Kitty figured that Dr. Grey just might be able to relate to what she was currently going through.

Even if she was old(er).

"Why so long?" Jean now inquired about Kitty and her tree house as she wanted to hopefully keep Kitty talking to her, even if it had to do with a subject other than this new complication in her life that had originally gotten her so upset.

"I'm not sure. Me and this guy next door used to spend so much time up here when we were younger." Kitty explained.

"A guy? Hmm…" Jean said with a slight smile, relaying to Kitty that she happened to catch on to that particular detail.

"It's not what you think, I was only seven, and he was only like eight or nine at the time." Kitty revealed.

"Oooh, and it looks like you've got an eye for the older guy too?" Jean continued teasing her, as she finally achieved her desired result with her light-hearted ribbing, which was to at last produce a bright smile on the face looking back across from her.

"No, well…I don't know." Kitty now dropped the doll back into her lap, as she put her hands over her mouth and started to giggle loudly, since she and some of her friends had seen a couple of guys from the local high-school that they thought were pretty cute.

"I guess this guy next door was something pretty special then, at least as a friend?" Jean asked her.

"I thought he was. But, I think the only reason he hung out with his nerdy next-door neighbor so much, was to keep from having to listen to his parents when they would start fighting." Kitty further explained for Jean.

"Did they fight a lot?" Jean sat back, with her hands placed against the wooden floor behind her to prop her up, and continued talking with Kitty.

"Yeah, they fought **A LOT**. I was even at Lance's house once, when the police showed up because his parents were yelling really loud at each other, and they started throwing and breaking stuff in their house." Kitty told her, "After that, my Mom and Dad didn't want me to go over there anymore, so Lance would come and hang out over here with me. Our house and my tree house became like his own personal hideaway from all that stuff going on at his. I never told anyone, but I think sometimes late at night that he would sneak up here and spend the whole night."

"So, how do the two of you get along now?" Jean further asked.

"We don't, not anymore. His parents went ahead and got divorced a few years ago, and he went to go live with his Mom out in California. I was pretty sad after that, and I even wrote him a few letters after he got out there, but he never wrote me back. That's when I started spending less and less time up here, until I kinda quit coming up here all together." Kitty told her, "But, I guess that's life, and people just have to move on at some point."

"That's an awfully mature attitude to have about things." Jean now commended her.

"That's because I'm an awwfuulllly mature girl." Kitty giggled some more, as she showed off her new braces and continued beaming a very bright smile back at Jean.

"I see." Jean replied, smiling back at Kitty too.

"But, it just seems like things always have to change." Kitty now said, as her smile lessened a little, "I mean, it's just like with Lance moving, and with me finding out I'm a mutant. I didn't want any of it to happen, for anything to change, but I didn't get much of a choice in the matter."

"Change can be good sometimes, though. That's how we grow, and how we progress." Jean now told Kitty.

"I guess." Kitty replied, as she sat with her face propped up in the palms of her hands, her elbows now resting up on her knees.

Then, after having said so much, Jean and Kitty sat there staring at one another in silence, as Kitty thought about and weighed heavily Jean's assertion on change bringing about positive outcomes in the end. Finally, after a few minutes, Kitty was the first to break their wordless juncture when she spoke to Jean again.

"So, this school for mutants, is it really any good?" Kitty curiously and now more receptively inquired.

"It's one of the best, if I do say so myself." Jean smiled and answered, as she had been carefully observing the younger girl during their serene moment.

"Well, then does it have hi-speed net access?" Kitty continued questioning her.

"Of course." Jean replied, her tone brimming with assurance.

"Okay, I guess I can give it a try." Kitty told Jean, agreeing now to at least give this new school that was so far away a chance.

"I'm glad to hear that, Kitty." Jean responded, nodding her head a little in an affirmative manner.

"So, are you guys gonna teach me how to control my powers, so I don't fall out of bed and end up in the basement anymore?" Kitty wanted to know of her new teacher.

"I think we can do much better than just that." Jean confidently told her.

"What do you mean?" Kitty now asked, as she and Jean both began to stand up from the tree house's floor.

"When I was around your age, I was so afraid of my powers that I didn't want to learn to do anything with them. But, the Professor showed me that they were a gift, one that could allow me to do some pretty neat things." Jean revealed, as she walked over towards Kitty.

"Like what?" Kitty asked, as Jean then took her by the hand.

"Well, if I concentrate really hard and put my mind to it…" Jean replied, as she led Kitty over to the window of the tree house, opening the swinging window-panes with her telekinetic powers.

"**Awesome**!" Was Kitty's only way to describe the exhilaration that she felt, as she and Dr. Grey came out of the tree house window, floating through the air and down to the ground together courtesy of Jean's powers.

"Um, Dr. Grey?" Kitty now asked, after they were firmly on the ground and heading back into her house.

"Yes?" Jean warmly replied, as she stopped and turned to look down at Kitty standing right beside her.

"I forgot to ask. This Professor guy, how do you think he feels about kids that are kinda strict vegetarians?" Kitty now asked of her.

"Trust me, I don't think you'll have anything to worry about." Jean smiled, putting her hand supportively on Kitty's shoulder again.

The pair then continued on into the house, taking the first step into a whole new world now awaiting Katherine Pryde just a few hundred miles to the east…

**……………………………………….**

(Brief Epilogue)

At the Pryde residence in Deerfield, Illinois, Professor Charles Xavier had arrived there just a mere handful of hours ago. But now, the Professor, one of his original students, and the Pryde's only daughter were all preparing to depart and make their return to his school in New York State. As Kitty loaded her suitcase and a carrying bag into the trunk of their rental car, before proceeding to say a tearful and emotional goodbye to her parents, unbeknownst to any of them, another party had been privy to the entirety of this farewell scene.

"Miss Frost, do you wanna follow 'em?" A voice inquired from the driver's seat of a black limo, which had been parked a little ways down the street from the Pryde's residence for the last half hour.

"Yes, I presume that they are heading to O'Hare." Emma Frost replied from the spacious back seat of her limousine, as she looked through its darkly-tinted windows to see the rental car leaving the Prydes' residence, and then passing them by.

"Say Boss, you want I should call ahead and have some of our guys waiting at the airport to grab the girl?" Her driver, one of the Hellfire Club's elite mercenaries asked, as he turned the limousine around and began to tail the car carrying Professor Xavier, Jean Grey, and Kitty Pryde.

"No. Although, I have no doubt that Xavier was able to locate a new mutant that is as powerful as this Pryde girl apparently is with the use of his own Cerebro machine, just as I did with mine, he did beat me here and to the victor go the spoils. We'll just have let this round go to him, for the time being anyways." Emma replied, as she reached into her expensive, _Louis Vuitton_ handbag, which accessorized perfectly with the equally as expensive white outfit that she was wearing, to pull her cell phone out of it.

As the driver continued along the roads and highways behind Professor Xavier's car that was heading towards downtown Chicago, he overheard Emma from the back section of the limousine booking a flight path with the pilot of her corporate jet. But, the destination that she had the pilot log was neither going take them to New York, nor back to Massachusetts.

"Why're you flyin' all the way to Madrid?" The driver asked, as the cool afternoon had turned into an even colder evening, and the nighttime darkness was now in its early stages of settling in.

"A contingency plan, Cole. Now, that I will clearly be unable to secure and enroll Katherine Pryde as the first student at my Massachusetts Academy, I have brought along information on another potential recruit, whom I intend to turn my attention towards. He's a young man from Spain, and I believe that his powers may prove to be just as valuable to us, if not more-so, than Miss Pryde's." Emma replied, as the limo now connected onto the major highway that ran south towards downtown Chicago and O'Hare International Airport.

As they now traveled about a dozen or so car lengths behind the Professor's rental, Emma pulled out a small laptop that she also had in the back with her, doing a brief search on a fairly prominent family living in the Castilian region of Spain.

_"Hmm, the De la Rocha's appear to be a very interesting group of individuals, indeed…"_ Emma smiled to herself, as she sifted through the data at her disposal regarding this wealthy family's sordid past, information that she believed would very much come in handy…

**………………………………………………..**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**Doza**- Glad you liked last chapter, and that you're looking forward to what's coming up. Which, hopefully, shouldn't be too much longer.

**ishandahalf**- Glad you loved all of the ROMY stuff, Hail ROMY!

**El Varon**- Glad you liked Rogue getting a small bit of happiness for once. If only happiness could last forever though…

**Independent Fire**- I'm glad you enjoyed all of the 'risqué talk about Rogue and Remy being hot together and sweating together'.

**TheDreamerLady**- Glad you loved the Romyness of last chapter, and that Lanco has such deep feelings towards me, makes me wanna blush even.

P.S.- Pushed you in front of the bike? Really? Man, that's some friend, I'm tellin' ya…


	11. Stories 26 and 27

The New Mutants

Written by Darkstorm5000

Disclaimer: The X-Men and related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Enterprises.

**………………………………………….**

Story 26- The Rogue and The Russian

Outside of their nightclub escapades, where Rogue and Gambit had managed to put their own unique stamp on the term 'bump n grind', the X-Men's student deputy leader had also found another, 'less suggestive' means with which to express herself physically.

And that was what had brought Rogue down to the mansion's sub-levels on this late summer afternoon, as she now stood right outside of the enormous blast doors of the Danger Room, the X-Men's state-of-the-art training facility that had been constructed nearly a mile beneath the school. Rogue was dressed in her hooded, black and green-trimmed leather team uniform, and was carrying with her a Katana sword that had been given as a gift to her by Remy. As the immense, foot-thick steel doors in front of her began to slide open, Rogue pulled her sword from the sheath strapped diagonally around her upper torso in great anticipation of logging her training session for the day, which was something required of all active X-Men at the mansion.

Rogue was surprised, however, when she saw that someone else had already come down there with much the same idea.

"Oh. Since the warnin' light wasn't on, Ah didn't figure anyone else was down here. Ah can come back later on." Rogue said, as she saw a tall, muscular, and relatively imposing figure just inside of the Danger Room, and then started to turn back around to head back towards the staircase located in the small corridor's opposite direction.

"It is alright, I was just about to start my training session when you walked in. You are more than welcome to join me, if you wish?" Peter Rasputin politely replied, as he stood in the center of the Danger Room and extended his offer to her, wearing his own sleeveless black and red-trimmed leather uniform that showed off his massively huge arms.

"Okay…sure. Why not?" Rogue thought for a second before accepting his offer, as she now turned back towards him and proceeded on into the Danger Room with her sword in hand, "So, what sim were you gonna run anyways?"

"I hadn't selected one yet. And since I did extend an invitation for you to join me, I think it only proper to allow a lady's preference to decide the matter." Peter smiled and replied, as Rogue walked over towards him.

"Now, that's downright gentlemanly of you." Rogue playfully stated to Peter, doing so in a tone that was slightly higher than her usual talking voice, "Who says that chivalry's dead?"

Then, Rogue looked upwards to the Danger Room's computer booth above and spoke directly to it:

"Computer, cue up training module a-147, addendum modification sequence, 'Never-ending Nights'."

With the command given, Rogue took the sword that she had with her and tightly wrapped both of her hands around its intricately decorated, gold-and-black colored handle. She then steadied her entire body into a more traditional and disciplined fighting stance, as she prepared for the exercise to begin.

Meanwhile, Peter's posture also appeared to become more rigid and serious, as he stood next to Rogue and waited for the simulation to start. Then, in the blink of an eye, Peter's form underwent an amazing transformation. No longer was this young man a being of mere flesh-and-blood. Now, his was a body composed entirely of living organic-steel, turning him into the armored-powerhouse code-named Colossus.

"Well, since we're already out here on the floor and Ah've picked us a song, shall we dance?" Rogue mused to Colossus, an instant before robotic constructs, which had been holographically disguised to look like ninjas garbed in black uniforms, began to rain down on them from the Danger Room's domed-ceiling up above.

Both Rogue and Colossus reacted with lightning quickness, their reflexes honed to the point that they could easily match and counter the ninjas' ensuing attack. This was all in spite of the fact that the ninjas' were wielding an assortment of weapons, including swords, spears, chains, and throwing stars.

And as the ninjas' numbers quickly swelled to more than a dozen, Rogue and Colossus fought on unabated, with Rogue slashing her way through the hostile swarm with her vanadium-reinforced blade. Meanwhile Colossus threw his solid, five-hundred pound frame behind his fists, and following Rogue's strategic suggestion, plowed a path through the ninjas that were encircling them. Colossus even grabbed one of the robotic ninja's by its head, easily palming its entire metallic skull in his hand before proceeding to use the ninja's body as a sort of billy-club, swinging it around him to violently bludgeon and damage more of its masked number.

"Are these ninjas' similar to the ones that you, Logan, and Remy faced in Japan?" Colossus now looked to his right and asked Rogue, as he held up in his hand what still remained of the ninja that he had just turned into an impromptu weapon, with most of its circuitry and wiring now exposed along with chunks of its arms, legs, and a torso that had now been shattered into a thousand pieces across the Danger Room's floor around them.

"Nah, those Hand creeps we ran into over there gave us a pretty good run for our money. They were actually a might bit tougher than these old boys here, and they were a lot more talkative too." Rogue whimsically replied, as one of the black-robed ninja's then managed to grab her from behind, an instant before Rogue used her marital arts know-how to counter its move and flipped the ninja over her shoulder and right overhead.

The ninja landed over on the steel-tiled floor hard, landing just as Rogue hurried over to it and astutely put her steel blade straight through its mechanical chest, before she moved onto the next of her ninja opponents and greeted it with a swift roundhouse kick to its synthetic face.

Rogue and Colossus' training session went on much the same for roughly the next hour, with them laying an incredible level of devastation against their foes. Soon, the barrage of ninja soldiers falling down upon them had come to an end, with over fifty of the X-Men's robotic opponents laying mangled and broken all around them in the Danger Room.

"Well, that was fun." Rogue said, as she flashed Colossus a satisfied smile and held her Katana sword in her right hand down by her side, while using her other gloved hand to wipe a small bead of sweat from her brow.

"You certainly seemed to enjoy it." Colossus replied to her, as he looked over at Rogue standing close to him and spoke, with his voice maintaining a slightly metallic-twang to it as long as he remained in his armored state, "Your fighting style is so aggressive, I could have sworn that it was Logan that I was fighting alongside. Except for the fact that you seem to lack his habitual grunting and growling when engaged in a combat situation."

"Ah usually try to at least keep the grunting to a minimum." Rogue jokingly responded to Colossus' comment, as she stood facing towards him, "But, it is nice to be able to come down here and blow off some steam, even if it meant Ah went a little 'Matrix' there for a while."

"At any rate, I am quite impressed with how formidable your hand-to-hand combat skills have progressed over this last year, along with your even more outstanding leadership ability." Colossus complimented her, as he now finally converted back into his human state, his features losing their steel-gray hue as they were now replaced with eyes of a deep blue-color and hair of a jet-black shade.

"Is it that you're impressed, or that you're just surprised to see a female pullin' it off?" Rogue posed to Peter, as she verbally instructed the Danger Room's computer to raise up one of the four-foot by four-foot floor tiles close by her, coming up just enough to allow her to take a seat on it and rest for a moment.

"Come now _Comrade_, you should know me better than that by now." Peter immediately responded, as he folded his huge arms over in front of him.

"I didn't mean it as an insult towards you. It's just that Ah know what it's like to grow up in a small town where some folks still wanna cling to their old ways of thinking about certain things, particularly about what 'a woman's place' should be, and Ah know how that can unintentionally rub off on a person." Rogue explained to Peter.

"I understand what you are saying now. But, I have been here at this school long enough that, even if I were to have held such foolish notions, that they would have long been disproven by women such as Dr. Munroe and Dr. Grey." Peter responded, as a slight smirk came to his face, "Besides, if _Katya_ were to so much as suspect that I had even an inkling of an attitude like that towards women in positions of authority, she would kill me. Literally."

"And we couldn't have her doin' that, now could we?" Rogue laughed a little, as something suddenly occurred to her, "But, with your powers, Ah doubt anyone could do you much harm anyways. What Ah wouldn't give to have a mutant power that was useful like super-strength, instead of havin' one that depends on the kindness of strangers and that Ah'm always really scared'll just end up hurtin' other people."

"And what, you think that I am not also afraid of hurting others with my powers?" Peter now posed to Rogue, which caused her to stop and pause for a moment.

"Well, Ah guess Ah never really thought much about it, since you always seemed to be so at ease with usin' 'em." Rogue answered, as she sat on the raised metallic tile, taking the sword down by her side and placing it up into the sheath on her back.

"It may seem that way, but in the back of my mind I am always self-conscious about accidentally hurting someone while in my armored state. I don't think that I could live with myself if an innocent was injured, or worse, as a result." Peter revealed to Rogue.

"Hmm, it feels like you just read my mind." Rogue said to Peter, as she had felt much the same way about her own powers, and with good reason.

"I assure you, a telepath I am not." Peter smiled and humorously responded to her.

"Well, telepath or not, Ah can definitely understand where you're comin' from. When my powers first emerged, Ah accidentally put a boy who was really close to me in coma for nearly a month. The doctors' all thought he was gonna die, and Ah can tell you Ah know first-hand that guilt you were just talkin' about." Rogue told Peter, as she reminisced a little about Cody, and about that fateful day up in her bedroom back in Caldecott County, Mississippi.

"Luckily he did wake up, but life sure didn't go back to normal after that. As a matter fact, things just went from bad to worse in those weeks afterwards, and all of my friends started avoidin' me like Ah was the plague. When me and my Mom would go shoppin' in town, folks we had known our entire lives would leave, hell sometimes sprint, just to get away Mrs. D'Acanto and her really weird daughter. Ah could even see it in my parents' reactions that they were embarrassed because of it, and worst of all, that they were ashamed of me because of what Ah was. They even started to treat me like an outcast in my own house, and everything came to a head one night when Ah overheard 'em talkin' about me, and about what they were goin' to do with me. They said that things couldn't go on the way they had been, and that they were thinkin' of sendin' me away, like Ah had intentionally gone and done somethin' wrong. That's when Ah knew it was time for me to leave, so Ah just up 'n took off and hitch-hiked north, and made it all the way up to Canada. Ah got as far as a place called Laughlin City, and that's…well, you know the rest." Rogue now finished.

"_Da_. The rest, as they say, is history." Peter happily added.

Peter and most of the other students had heard a general re-telling of the events surrounding Rogue's decision to leave home, but this was the first time that Peter had been privy to some of those more precise details. It was probably due to the fact that anytime that period of Rogue's life had been brought up in those first few months after her arrival at the school, it was usually accompanied with a few teasing comments from her classmates about her spending her free time picking up older guys in bars.

"Ah don't even know why Ah'm borin' you with any of this, Ah'm sure you've already got a good idea what it's like to have folks freakin' out over you bein' a mutant." Rogue said to Peter, as he now had the computer raise another one of the square tiles on the floor up a couple of feet, and then rested one of his huge black boots on top of it.

"Actually, when my powers emerged, it came at a moment of miraculous desperation." Peter replied, as he now began a short tale of his own, "One day my little sister Illyana was sitting out and playing in one of the wheat fields, when suddenly a harvesting tractor that had been parked and left running nearby slipped into gear and began speeding towards her. I took off running without thinking, without hesitation, to save her even if it meant sacrificing myself in the process. But, by the time I had reached her, the harvester was already upon us."

Then, Peter let out a small sigh, as he thought about that day, which seemed almost as though it were yesterday.

"So, I did the only thing that I could. I grabbed onto Illyana and held her close to me, so that we would at least leave this world together. The next thing that I heard was the sound of metal rending and tearing, and I merely assumed that it was mind's way of compensating with the pain of us being sliced to pieces by the thresher's sharp reaping-blades. It wasn't until I heard Illyana speak to me again that I opened my eyes, only to see that we had both actually survived and had been given a new lease on life. And in my case, a new and vastly different life at that." Peter continued explaining, as Rogue sat on the raised tile underneath her and listened intensely to him, "When I saw that my entire body was covered in steel, I knew that my world had changed forever. In the weeks following that, I went off on my own to practice and try to learn to control this newfound ability that I did not entirely understand. Thankfully for me, neither my parents nor the local people of my village shunned me because of what I had become, of what I now was. Many of them had more of a deep curiosity about my powers than anything, and some of the local children would follow Illyana home, just to try and catch a glimpse of this 'shiny brother' that she now claimed to have."

"You're really lucky that folks around you were so accepting about it." Rogue told Peter, as she sat there and momentarily let her auburn and white-highlighted hair out of the single ponytail that she had pulled back in, so that she could readjust and retie it again.

"True, but it was still good that the Professor came and told me about his school, and about how he could better teach me to control my gift." Peter responded, "The Professor later informed me, some time after we had come back here, that he had heard unsubstantiated stories of a super-powered program in my country dating back to its Cold War days. And rumors that remnants of this now rogue program, no pun intended, might still be in existence today. Which could have put my home village and those close to me in tremendous danger, had I chosen to remain there."

"Well hopefully all it is, is just a rumor. Ah'd hate to think that there's another Colonel Stryker or Weapon X-type outfit in operation out there somewhere." Rogue replied, as she now stood up from her tile seat, "But, speakin' of families, Ah'm gonna go hit the showers so Ah can head back upstairs. Ah wanna find out the latest on how Caldecott fared in the hurricane, and try again to get through to Remy headin' down to New Orleans, and see what he's found out about his family down there."

"Of course. I think I will remain here for a while longer, since Kitty and Jones are most likely still working on their project together. Hopefully, she hasn't managed to electrocute him with that peculiar-looking device that she had hooked him up to." Peter laughed a little, as he replied while pulling his foot back down from the tile-step that it had been perched up on, preparing himself to run yet another session in the Danger Room.

Peter closed his eyes and stood in the center of the training facility, as he was about to undergo his organic-steel conversion, but paused when he heard Rogue speak to him again.

"Say Peter." Rogue now said, as she stood over by the Danger Room's entranceway that she had just opened.

"Yes?" Peter opened his eyes and attentively responded, as he looked over at Rogue.

"It was kinda nice hangin' out and talkin' with you like this. We're gonna have to do it again sometime, 'Big Boy'." Rogue smiled and told him.

"Anytime, Marie." Peter gladly replied, as he was one of the few people at the school outside of the Professor, Logan and occasionally Remy that ever actually called her by her given name. Rogue then turned and continued on her way out of the Danger Room's exit, just as Peter went ahead and converted into Colossus, right before his new training exercise began.

**……………………………………………..**

And now, onto…

Story 27- …**A Gala Event**!

_You are cordially invited to attend _

_The Massachusetts Academy's Fall Formal Gala, at The _

_Hellfire Club, New York Branch_

_#7 West 33rd Street_

_New York__, New York_

_RSVP_

_Beginning at Eight o'clock in the evening_

_Saturday, Octob…_

"Um Professor, I think I speak for everyone when I say, **you better abso-freakin'-lutely believe we wanna accept the totally primo invite**!" Jubilee cheerfully exclaimed, as she interrupted Professor Xavier's reading of this invitation in his study, which had been sent to him through a personal courier from the Massachusetts Acadmy's Headmistress Emma Frost herself, "The Hellfire Club is only, like, one of the ritziest spots in the whole country." 

"I understand your enthusiasm in wanting to attend this function." Professor Xavier replied, as he sat behind the wide oak-desk in his study and laid the invitation down in front of him, "But, my reason for gathering all of you in here first, before informing the rest of the students about this invitation, is so that we can discuss the possible risks that may be associated with such a decision to accept it."

Professor Xavier then looked around the room at his older students and X-Men, whom he had requested to come in and join him.

"What kind of risks are you talking about?" Bobby Drake asked first, as he and the rest of the senior squad had taken seats and other standing positions in various spots around the Professor's study.

"Well, one is the apparent involvement of Magneto with the Massachusetts Academy, as evidenced by John Allerdyce's enrollment there." Scott Summers, who was standing near the Professor's desk, replied, "While the Brotherhood was instrumental in helping us to defeat the Sentinels, we shouldn't count on that temporary partnership as a guarantee of any future alliances."

"So, you think we'll be walkin' right into some kinda trap then, if we go?" Rogue now inquired, as she stood over by one of the large bookcases in there.

"Not necessarily. When I last spoke with Miss Frost a few months ago, her desire to establish amicable ties between our two schools and their respective student bodies did seem genuine enough." Professor Xavier told them.

"With Emma Frost, I can also tell you that everything is not always as it may appear." Ororo Munroe stated, as she sat in another chair not very far from the Professor's desk in the room, and voiced her own trepidation regarding this event.

"And I can vouch from my own experiences that the same goes for a few of the other people there, the ones who're involved behind the scenes at the Hellfire Club." Alison Blaire added, as she stood in the study leaning up very closely against Scott's arm and shoulder, with all of the students' having noticed over the last few weeks just how close and serious things between their teachers' had obviously gotten.

"It is for all of these reasons that I did want to make you aware of the possibility of there being ulterior motives at work." Professor Xavier now said, as he turned his attention towards his students in the room, "With that said, I will give my approval for all of you to attend this function if you wish, but I ask that all of you remain vigilant while there."

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye or two open the entire night." Kitty Pryde now happily chimed in, as she and Peter stood in there together close to Rogue.

"In addition, Scott and Ororo have volunteered to escort all of you there as chaperones for the evening, and to also provide some additional low-key surveillance while there." Professor Xavier now announced to his students gathered in there with him.

"You up for a night of dancing?" Scott now smiled, as he looked over right beside him and invited Alison to join them.

"Sorry, but I think I'm gonna sit this one out." Alison replied, giving Scott an answer that he hadn't been anticipating, "This Emma Frost may be legit and all, but there's no way I'm gonna let those other guys in the Hellfire Club that tried to have me killed before get another shot at me."

"Don't fret, you will still have me here to keep you company for the evening, Ms. Blaire." Kurt smiled and playfully said to Alison, doing so from his seat that was over by the window.

Then, Professor Xavier turned his attention back towards Ororo and spoke.

"Given what you have told me about your own past encounter with Emma Frost, I will understand it if you would also rather not attend." Professor Xavier now told her.

"No, I will be fine." Ororo replied, as she felt that this was a reunion that had been a long time coming, "I am actually looking forward to attending, and it will also allow me to keep watch over the students' as well."

"Just like you needed someone to keep watch over you, when Forge flew in from Dallas last week and took you out on that date." Jubilee now quippingly remarked to Ororo.

"We merely had dinner together. And Forge was a perfect gentleman, if you must know, Jubilation." Ororo replied, as she smiled and propped her face against the palm of her right hand.

"Yep, I must know. C'mon, I've been waitin' all week here just to get the juicy details." Jubilee remarked.

"And you will continue waiting, I'm afraid." Ororo laughed in response, as Kurt then spoke again.

"Well, _Herr Professor_, I assure you that Alison and myself will not have need of a chaperone here." Kurt jokingly added.

"With a natural-born flirt like you, I think I'll reserve judgment on that." Alison humorously replied to Kurt's statement.

"At any rate, I will remain here at the school with you. Not as a chaperone for our older residents, but to maintain constant telepathic awareness with the rest of you, in the event that there is any trouble." Professor Xavier told everyone gathered in there.

With that, the X-Men's briefing was concluded. They all then stood up and began to slowly file out the Professor's study, with the senior-students among them filled with excitement at the prospect of their big night out.

**……………………………………………**

As the next few weeks seemed to fly by, summer soon officially became autumn. And as the night of the Gala drew closer and closer, many of the students at Xavier's School for the Gifted spent much of that interim time consumed with dress fittings or picking out tuxedos and suits, along with endlessly obsessing over which hair style would look just absolutely perfect with their outfit (with the second item pertaining mainly to the female residents of the school, although a few of their male counterparts managed to match them in that department.) But, it seemed as though most of the students at the school were, at the very least, fairly enthusiastic about the subject of their attire and appearance for this special evening in New York City.

Save for one of them, who actually acted as though she could care less about the fancy soirée taking place this evening, and about all of the hoopla that had been surrounding it.

"Have you seen my other earring? I've been looking absolutely everywhere for it." Amara Aquilla now questioned her roommate, as she came into their bedroom dressed in her aqua and white house robe, now on a desperate search for the other earring that matched the one currently in her hand, so that she could finalize her wardrobe for the evening and finish getting dressed.

"You dropped it on the floor earlier. It's up on top of your dresser." Carmella Unuscione replied, as she lay on top of her bed in the room with a copy of Gregory Maguire's Wicked: _(The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of The West)_, resting upon her sternum and firmly in her hands.

"Thanks, you are most certainly a life-saver." Amara said, as she went over to her dresser in one corner of the room, briefly stopping to once again check out her brownish-blonde hair in a large oval mirror that sat on top of it, before grabbing the elusive earring laying there.

Then, Amara finally noticed that Carmella was lying on top of her bed, and had by now gone back to reading her book again. Amara was struck by her roommate's obvious lack of preparation for tonight's social event, as she saw that Carmella was stretched out on her bed wearing a simple gray ribbed-tank, black sweats, and a pair of plain white socks.

"Don't you think that you should start getting dressed, everyone else will be ready to depart shortly?" Amara asked her, as she stood over by her dresser.

"For what? It's not like I was actually planning on goin'." Carmella replied, speaking as she continued staring at the opened pages in front of her.

"Why not? Everyone is going, except for Professor Xavier, Mr. Wagner, Miss Blaire, and Artie." Amara told her.

"Then that means Carmella makes five." Carmella responded, as she now sat up on her bed and laid her book down beside her, pulling her lengthy chocolate-brown hair back into place, "The last thing I need to have is for my force-field to start actin' crazy out in public again, and for the police to show up just like when Storm came and had to bring me back here. Plus, I wouldn't have anything to wear, even if I wanted to go to this stupid dance."

"Since the Professor has been working with you, you have gotten a lot better at controlling your powers. You haven't even had an episode like that in a while, not since the first week after you arrived. And besides, you can't spend the whole night up here all by yourself." Amara told Carmella, as she went and sat down on her own bed, which was on the opposite side of their room, "I even believe that I have a few dresses, which I am certain will fit you."

Without waiting for any further protests from Carmella, Amara got up and hurried over to her closet to sift through the various dresses that she had in there. In there, it seemed as though Amara had a dress or outfit for every occasion, and that they were all ready to wear at a moment's notice. It was a habit that Amara had developed over the years, having grown up as the daughter of one of her country's most powerful and popular politicians, where she was sometimes required to attend state dinners and other social gatherings as a result.

"Here, I think that this one will do nicely." Amara said, as she picked out a sleeveless powder-blue dress set, which had a small row of sequin-beads running around the collar.

"That looks pretty expensive. You sure you want me wearin' your stuff like this?" Carmella asked, as Amara had brought the dress over and laid it out on her bed.

"I would not have offered, if I did not want you to. Besides, I have more than enough to spare." Was Amara's reply, as she smiled and stood next to Carmella's bed, "Now, you'd better hurry up if you do not want us to be late."

Amara then turned and walked back over towards the bedroom's door, so that she could head back down hallway to another room in the girls' wing of the dorm shared between Dani, Terry, and Rahne. Which was where the low-cut, spaghetti-strapped black and white evening gown that Amara planned to wear for the evening had been left. But, just as Amara was about to go out of the room, she heard Carmella speak to her again.

"Amara…" Carmella said to her, as she stood up and her dark-brown eyes now trained upon the dress that she was holding in her hands.

"Would you prefer that I select a different one for you?" Amara responded.

"No, the dress's fine. I…" Carmella paused for a moment, before finishing her sentence, "I just wanted to say thanks. For, well…you know."

"You're very welcome. After all, I believe that is what roommates, and what friends, are for." Amara smiled once again and replied, as she now exited their bedroom and turned down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Carmella stood there and took a moment to admire the dress that had just been loaned to her, before going to try it on. Having never seen any article of clothing up close that was so exquisitely made as this dress currently in her hands, Carmella felt deeply appreciative of the generous sentiment from her roommate to give it to her to wear for the night.

**…………………………………………………..**

Following a reasonably tranquil and uneventful ride into New York City in two stretch limousines, which had been sent courtesy of their host to shuttle its honored guests to this evening's event, the students' and two faculty members' from Xavier's found themselves disembarking from their wheeled chariots in front of the expansive edifice that was The Hellfire Club. And, as everyone from Westchester walked into the Club's main entrance, they passed right underneath its unmistakable emblem, which consisted of a solid-black pitchfork centered within an encompassing ring of fire. The group then proceeded further into the Club's esteemed walls, perceiving it to be an experience that had unquestionably managed to live up to its top-notch billing.

Originally established in the late 1700's, in what was then the colony of New York, the Hellfire Club has stood as the premier symbol of wealth and power ever since. One look at The Hellfire Club's still classically architectural design, and at the valuable collection of antique furniture utilized within to make up its authentically elegant décor revealed that in some respects very little had changed in that time. Which was one of its well-intended features, as the Club and its exclusive membership pool have prided themselves on upholding their long-standing traditions. These were traditions that had been developed over numerous decades since the Hellfire Club's original inception, all the while watching as the world outside underwent a multitude of radical and dramatic changes during that time.

But, for this one night the strict adherence to those established formalities had been loosened in just one of the Club's ballrooms, allowing this next generation in attendance to fully enjoy themselves in their luxurious surroundings.

"Now I know John's here, 'cause he's already started adding his own personal touch to the DJ's playlist. Gawd, I haven't heard The Raveonettes since he was livin' with us back at the mansion." Jubilee said, as she came in wearing a gold-colored, low-cut dress that had a matching sheer shawl. Jubilee was the first of the group to enter the opulently furbished ballroom, where music was being loudly pumped through huge speakers that had been setup by the DJ's table. And Jubilee had come in escorted by a special guest of her own, whomt she had invited to join them this evening and was himself dressed in a rented black tuxedo.

"John? Isn't he that the guy you introduced me to a few months ago?" Doug now reminded Jubilee of their previous meeting, which also happened to be at the same concert where Alison was revealed to the entire world to be a mutant.

"That's…um, him alright." Jubilee somewhat uneasily answered.

While Jubilee had introduced her boyfriend to John, who was a one-time student at Xavier's, she had still yet to fully reveal to Doug the true circumstances surrounding John's departure back at Alkali Lake. And it was only one facet of the numerous secrets that she had been keeping from boyfriend, secrets that also included the other covert activities taking place behind the scenes at Xavier's, and now apparently also at The Massachusetts Academy.

"Anyways, let's see if Missy's right and we can get the music to make you lose control too." Jubilee now said changing the subject, as she took Doug by the hand.

"I don't see that happening, at least not tonight." Doug replied, as he couldn't help but be yanked out onto the dance floor behind Jubilee.

"Speakin' of losin' control, you been awful quiet all night, _Sugah_. Ah figured a self-proclaimed party-animal like yourself'd perk up once we got in here. What's the matter?" Rogue asked Remy, as she came in beside him dressed in a beautiful burgundy semi-formal dress, which had long sleeves, skirt, and gloves that matched.

"Guess I'm just not much in a partyin' mood. I can't help but t'ink 'bout all de t'ing's still goin' on back home in New Orleans." Remy replied, as he strode in beside Rogue wearing an understated, at least when compared to his usual attire, medium-blue dinner jacket, white tuxedo shirt with matching bowtie, and black pleated trousers, "De only reason I came back from there so soon, besides me missin' yo' lovely face of course, was Henri, Tante Mattie, and my father all said they had t'ing's under control. They also hinted dat it be best if I didn't 'stay 'round long enough for word t'get out t'de Assassins 'bout me slippin' in there through de back door."

"Well, Ah can understand that. But, maybe a night out'll get your mind off things, for a little while at least." Rogue said, as she put both of her arms around his right arm and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"Maybe, _Cheré_. And who knows, I might even have a slow dance or two in me, just for you." Remy replied with a small smile, as he went and put his right arm around Rogue's waist, and the couple continued on over to one of the many tables that surrounded the ballroom's dance floor on all sides.

**………………………………………**

Meanwhile, as the rest of the arriving party from Xavier's now also came into the ballroom behind Rogue and Remy, their entrance had been well-noticed by two individuals in particular that were observing them from up above. These two onlookers were standing together on a small interior balcony that ran around upper-edge of the ballroom, which further led to other areas of the Club that had been marked as off-limits to the young revelers this evening.

"Guess who just showed up?" Lance Alvers snidely commented, as he looked down into the crowd of arriving students and immediately picked out Bobby Drake from among them, who had come in while talking to his classmates Roberto Da Costa, Samuel Guthrie, JE Richter and James Proudstar, "Looks like your loser best-friend's here now, just to keep you company."

"The only 'loser' I see is standin' right here next to me." John Allerdyce challengingly replied, as he turned to face Lance, both of them leaning forward against the upper-balcony's intricately carved wooden-railing, which allowed them to overlook the entire ballroom.

"Well, I sure as hell can't help but look like a loser, 'brah'. Especially, with these dumbass suits Frosty made us put on." Lance disparagingly said, as he referred to the black tuxedos that he, John, and most of the other guys from both schools at the Gala were all wearing.

"Miss Frost just wanted us to try and show a little class, or at least do the best job we could in your case." John sarcastically responded to Lance.

"I got your class right here." Lance said to John, as he threw him what most would consider to be a fairly obscene gesture, before abruptly changing subjects when he noticed Attack of the Ghost-Riders playing on in the background, "Man, who the hell picked out some of the music the DJ's been playin'?"

"Why?' John defensively responded, as he and a couple of other students at the Massachusetts Academy had worked on a list of songs that they wanted played this evening, and had submitted that list to their Headmistress.

"Because, I think it sounds like total--" Lance was saying, when John interrupted him

"Let me guess. It's because you think it sounds like total shit." John finished for him, although he was in stark disagreement over Lance's opinion of the song's artistic merit, "Anyways, if you can quit your bitchin' about the tux and tonight's music for a minute, I think it's time we went down and mingled a little."

As John and Lance proceeded to make their way over to a cascading staircase close by, the last of the junior students' from Xavier's made their way into the ballroom, with one of them loudly announcing his arrival.

"**Yeaahh, Baybee**! **Kid Mojo's in the house**!" Jamie Madrox yelled, as he came into the ballroom broadcasting his entry with his best Austin Power's impression, obviously not concerned about the Club's rules of conduct in regards to acceptable behavior.

"I can't believe how immature some of the guys are, ye'd think they never went anywhere." Theresa Cassidy, who was dressed in a pink chiffon dress said, as she folded her arms over in front of her and shook her head a little, commenting to some of the other girls with her as Jamie, and then Jones Davidson came running by them into the spacious ballroom.

"It's not like they're all that much more mature the rest of the time, so I don't know why you'd expect them to start acting like it now." Danielle Moonstar commented, as she came in next, dressed in formal wear that had a deliberately Native American influence to it.

"Still, ye'd think they'd at least try 'n put forth an effort, and nae'run around like a couple'a bleetin' mad-cows!" Rahne Sinclair added next, dressed in a conservatively discreet charcoal gray-colored dress, which managed to cover up even more of herself than what Rogue was wearing for the night.

Then, as the girls were talking not too far from the ballroom's entrance another attendee came over to greet them, an individual who definitely carried an air of maturity about himself.

"_Bienvenidos_! My name is Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha, and with one look I recognized that such a stunning beauty could only be Amara Aquilla. I knew that I had to come over to you and properly introduce myself." Manuel de la Rocha now cordially said, as he came over to Amara to bid her a very personal welcome to the Gala, taking her hand into his and raising it up a bit, proceeding to lightly and sensually kiss it in the process, "It is both an honor and a pleasure to meet the daughter of Nova Roma's most-esteemed Senator."

"It is…nice to meet you as well." Amara smiled and somewhat awkwardly replied, as she slowly drew her hand back from his and was surprised that this young man, whom she had never met before, apparently seemed to know her all too well.

"There are some other matters that currently require my immediate attention, but I hope that we will have the opportunity to talk again this evening. And perhaps even share a dance a little later?" Manuel now politely turned and said to Theresa, Rahne, Carmella and Dani after releasing Amara's hand, as he shot the girls' what appeared to be a smiling, but slightly suspicious expression on his face, before he turned around to head to another section of the ballroom, "Until then, Ladies."

"Wow, ye've certainly gotten his attention." Terry was the first in the group to remark, as she turned to face Amara.

"I imagine that I have." Amara replied, who couldn't help but blush just a little, thanks to her newfound admirer.

"Well, I think he's kinda creepy, if you ask me." Dani was the next to comment, as something about the vibe that Manuel was throwing off just didn't feel right to her.

"I'm with you. Romeo over there's definitely got more than just bein' pleasant on his mind." Carmella said in agreement with Dani, as the five girls then went on into the ballroom to find their table.

**…………………………………..**

In the meantime, Scott had come into the ballroom, making his way over to a lavish refreshment area set up on the far side of the ballroom within. While standing at the bar and talking to one of the Club's staff members, who had been assigned to tend to the bar's duties for the evening, Scott was unexpectedly approached by an unfamiliar acquaintance who now made her own introductions to him.

"I'm very glad that you could all make it." The Massachusetts Academy's Headmistress Emma Frost came up and said to Scott, as she walked up to him dressed in a white one-of-a-kind sequined evening-gown outfit, which had been exquisitely and expensively fashioned for her by Chanel, "Is Charles on his way in?"

"No, I'm sorry but he was unable to attend." Scott replied, as he sat the small drink in his hand down on the counter of the bar beside him.

"How unfortunate, I hope that he's not feeling ill?" Emma inquired, as she came and poisedly took a seat on one of the cushioned stools next to Scott.

"No, it's nothing like that." Scott smiled and amicably replied, as he also went to sit down beside her.

"That's good to hear. Although, he did end up sending a more than suitable proxy in his stead." Emma told Scott, as he now felt the unmistakable sensation of Emma's foot being slowly run up and down the lower area of his tuxedo's pant-leg.

"I don't know if 'suitable' is the word I'd use." Scott unnervingly replied, as Emma's sudden and straight-forward advances caused him to jump a little, spilling some of his drink on the bar's counter.

"I could easily find a number of other ways to describe such a noticeably captivating individual as yourself." Emma coyly said, as she continued her game of flirtatiously mincing her words with Scott.

"And, one could also come across more than a few terms to accurately describe a harpy such as yourself." Ororo came up and abruptly said to Emma, as she came over to them wearing a rum-pink dress made from fine French-satin material, "Scott, would you mind going over and keeping an eye on Jamie and Jones for me? I've had to remind the two of them once already to remain on their best behavior tonight."

"Sure, no problem." Scott said, as he stood up and then turned to speak to Emma, "It was nice meeting you."

"The pleasure was all mine." Emma smiled and graciously replied, as she looked up into Scott's ruby-lensed glasses, before he turned to walk off and find the two aforementioned students.

Emma then stood up from her seat at the bar, so that she could now address the other teacher from Xavier's who was in attendance at tonight's social function, "I see that you still have that 'unpleasant personality', which I remember so fondly."

"Only in your case." Ororo replied, in a tone that was extremely and unusually impolite for her, "And, it is a temperament in which you played a rather significant role in helping to develop."

"Don't tell me that you're still upset about what happened between me and Warren? We were all little more than teenagers then, and that one night with him certainly wasn't worth you holding a grudge over, or me even bothering to brag about for that matter." Emma smirked and told Ororo.

"I will have to undoubtedly defer to your more 'expert' opinion on the subject, particularly when it comes to wanton acts of carnal lust." Ororo said, as she angrily hurled an insult at Emma that was very much intentional in its purpose, "It took some time, but I was able to eventually move past all of that. However, I have never forgotten about what happened, and I surely haven't forgotten what kind of person that you truly are, one who seemingly takes such malicious pleasure in hurting others."

"Just like an elephant, I see. And, how ironically appropriate in your case." Emma curtly responded, as the bartender brought her a glass of the Club's finest champagne.

"Part of the reason that I came here is to deliver a message to you in no uncertain terms: I don't know what games that you and your new 'associate' are intending on playing with the lives of these children, but if you do anything to hurt those that have become as close to me as my family, you will have to contend with me." Ororo sternly warned Emma, "And I can guarantee that you won't be dealing with that same young girl, whom when you last saw her, was running out of that hotel room crying all of those years ago as a direct result of your manipulations."

"Am I to take that as a threat from you then?" Emma grinned and questioned her, as she sat back down next to the bar and continued to stare Ororo down, her elbow now sitting on the bar's counter with her face resting against the palm of her gloved-hand.

"You can most assuredly take it as a promise." Ororo staunchly and fore-warningly clarified for Emma, as the faintest sound of thunder booming could be heard off in the distance, despite a weather forecast that had stated this night would remain mostly clear.

"Then, here's to promises kept." Emma replied with a slight snicker, as she raised her champagne glass up from the bar's surface in a defiant self-toast.

As Emma's smile soon faded, it quickly became apparent that neither woman was in the least bit intimidated by the other. Both Emma and Ororo then eyed one another intensely, with neither one desiring to back down from their visual confrontation either. But, once it was understood that Ororo was indeed very serious about her vow to protect those around her, their impromptu stare-off came to an end. Ororo then departed first, so that she could go check on her other students, while Emma sat at the bar for a short while to finish her drink, before eventually getting up to do the same.

**…………………………………………….**

While a few of the couples and some of the other students from both schools were now out on the dance floor, most everyone else was at the very least taking this opportunity to commingle with each other in various surrounding parts of the ballroom.

Except for Bobby Drake, who was finding it hard to get into the spirit of the night.

Not wanting to feel like the proverbial third or fifth-wheel around Kitty and Peter, Jubilee and Doug, and especially not around Rogue and Remy, Bobby had gone and taken a seat at one of the tables near the ballroom, choosing to sit all by himself at one of its expensively-decorated roundtables that seated eight people apiece. Having now gotten all dressed up just so that he could spend the majority of his night counting the ruffles on the table's napkin decorations, Bobby was now starting to wonder if maybe Alison and Kurt had had the right idea after all by staying home?

That is, until Bobby's self-imposed isolation was fortuitously interrupted by another kindred soul in attendance this evening.

"Um, hi. I don't know if you remember me at all, but we met a few months ago when you came to visit our school." Bobby heard a voice come up from behind and speak to him, a voice that he immediately recognized and detected was very much feminine in nature.

Bobby turned around in his seat to see a girl standing there behind him, who had long and red flowing hair and who was wearing a pretty amber-colored dress with a skirt that was slightly more than ¾ in length.

"Yeah, of course I remember you Angelica." Bobby said, as he stood up from his chair to greet Angelica Jones, recalling the girl who had given him and Kitty an exclusive tour of the Massachusetts Academy back during the spring, and who Bobby had also talked at great length with during their time there. Bobby then briefly took Angelica's hand in his, leading her over to a seat that he genteelly pulled out for her.

"You looked kinda lonely sitting over here, all by yourself." Angelica now told Bobby, as she sat down in the chair, while he went to take his seat right next to hers.

"So tell me, how does a lonely person really look?" Bobby smiled and playfully inquired of her.

"I…don't know." Angelica laughed a little and honestly said to Bobby, "I guess the real reason I came over here was because I was sitting by myself too, and I hoped you could use some company. I'm not very good when it comes to being at parties or dances, especially real glitzy ones like this."

"I don't know why, you look like you're doing just a fine job of taking care of us lonely-types over here." Bobby reassuringly told Angelica, as she had revealed to him just how inept she felt when it came to being in most social settings, it having taken all of the courage that Angelica could muster up just for her to come over and even speak to Bobby.

"You know, I think the real reason is because I've felt like a fish completely out of water ever since I came to Snow Valley. See, my family doesn't have a lot of money, and until tonight I never imagined that places as beautiful as the Hellfire Club really even existed, let alone that I'd ever get to see them from the inside anyways." Angelica further told him, as she for some unexplainable reason felt very relaxed and comfortable talking to Bobby about some of the things that she had carrying around inside of her for a while now, "When Miss Frost came and offered me a scholarship to such a fancy and expensive school, it was like a miracle. I mean, I've been working and trying so hard, but sometimes I feel like I'm letting her and my Dad down."

"Sounds like what you've been doing is putting way too much pressure on yourself. Take it from personal experience, you can't live your life according to what your parents, or what anyone else for that matter thinks you should be. That's something you're going to have to decide on your own." Bobby now told Angelica.

"I guess that's true. But when you really think about it, it seems like most of the time we don't even get much of a choice about what we end up--" Angelica was saying to Bobby, the two of them now happily engaged in what was turning out to be a fairly deep and meaningful conversation, when she was very rudely interrupted.

"Well, if it isn't the 'little red-haired girl'? I see you came over here and found your own 'block-head' to hang with?" Lance said, as he now appeared right next to Bobby and Angelica's table, with John chuckling a little at Lance's teasing comment as he stood right beside him. While it was pretty much Lance's stock and trade to pick on and make fun of those around him, his harassing comments were something that Angelica absolutely detested to have to be subjected to.

"You know, that's real funny. But from where I'm sitting, it looks like a couple of assholes just came over to us." Bobby immediately shot back at Lance, as he stood up from his chair to face the slightly taller and more muscular student from the Massachusetts Academy.

"**The hell'd you just say**!" Lance shouted, as the ruffian inside of him was just dying to make an appearance tonight. Lance then balled his right-hand up into a fist, and prepared to take a swing at Bobby.

"**Why don't you just go somewhere, and leave us alone**?" Angelica now stood up and, surprisingly, began yelling back at Lance, as the anger that she felt inside when others made fun of her had now channeled itself into an uncontrollable rage within.

"Pipe down 'Wall-flower', or I'll make sure you get some of this ass-whippin' I'm about to lay down on Charlie Brown here!" Lance now turned and warned Angelica, his fist still tightly-clenched.

Meanwhile, Lance, Bobby and Angelica's verbal exchange had become just loud enough to be heard by a few of the attendees close to them, which was fairly difficult in the first place thanks to the enormously thumping beat of Kanye West's Gold Digger now being spun by the DJ.

"C'mon 'lanche, we didn't come over here to pick a fight." John now said, as he stepped in front of Lance and now faced Bobby to speak to him, "The main reason I came down here was to invite one of my best-buds to join us, but you can keep on hangin' out here in the 'loser's circle' for all I give a damn."

With that, as John and Lance stepped back and were about leave Bobby and Angelica at their table, John stopped to make one last remark to the one individual with whom he had been the closest to during his time in Westchester.

"And by the way, when I see her I'll make sure to go give Rogue and her NEW boyfriend my best." John said, as he left one final, parting shot with Bobby, before turning with Lance to go and try to locate some their other classmates.

"That's some temper you've got there. Remind me not to do anything to really get you upset." Bobby now joked with Angelica, as both of them were now starting to calm down after their confrontation, and went to sit back down at their table.

"Yeah, I know. Normally, I can ignore that idiot's comments, but it felt like something inside of me just…exploded right now." Angelica told Bobby, as she was slightly confused about her momentary loss of control over her emotions.

Although in reality, Angelica was very perceptive to be suspect of what had just taken place.

Sitting only a few tables away from Bobby, Angelica, Lance, and John during their confrontation was one Manuel de la Rocha. And while it had been so subtle that neither they, nor Haroun al-Rashid or Matthieu Everard who were seated at that other table with Manuel felt it, a mischievously satisfied grin across Empath's face was the only tell-tale sign that his emotion-altering and amplifying abilities had played more than a small part in the altercation that had just taken place.

It also relayed the fact that both Manuel, and his Headmistress at the Massachusetts Academy, apparently drew perverse and substantial pleasure in toying with the emotions and with the lives of those around them, and seemed to do so for no other reason than they were simply able to.

As John and Lance made their way over to the other side of this enormous chamber, which despite its size was actually only one of The Hellfire Club's auxiliary ballrooms, the two soon split up and went in different directions. While John told Lance that he was going to see if he could find out where Tabitha was, another young lady wearing a fairly tight dark-blue floral print dress managed to catch Lance's attention. As she walked by in the distance, she soon disappeared through a doorway that led to an outdoor balcony, which managed to give a pretty spectacular view of New York's skyline, especially at night.

**………………………………………………**

"…haven't really talked to my parents since." Lance was now saying, as he and none-other than Kitty Pryde herself had become engaged in deep conversation out on the balcony for roughly the last five or ten minutes after Lance followed her out there. Lance had then proceeded to briefly inform Kitty about what had happened to him, after he and his Mom left Deerfield all of those years ago, "But enough of my sob-shit, since when did you start datin' the 'Brawny-Guy' anyways?"

"Don't make fun, Peter is such an awesomely sweet guy." Kitty smiled and replied, as she faced Lance. Meanwhile, the cooler nighttime air had now caused Kitty to tightly wrap herself up in the sheer printed-shawl that she had on, which matched her dress, "But to answer your question, we've been going out for a few months now."

"Who's makin' fun of him? Have you taken a look at your boyfriend, that dude is freakin' hu-normous." Lance jokingly responded.

"Hu-normous? That's not even a word." Kitty told Lance, as she now started to giggle a little.

"Yeah it is, straight outta the 'Lance Alvers' dictionary of words 'n shit'." Lance brazenly said to her, which caused Kitty to shake her head and let out another small laugh at his remark, "But if you don't believe me, just take a look at the guy's shoe-size. That should give you an idea of what I'm talkin' about right there."

"C'mon, stop." Kitty said, as she now came over on the balcony and playfully slapped Lance on his shoulder in slight admonishment.

"You know, you're sure not that same little girl I remember from next door back in Deerfield." Lance said to her, his tone becoming far more serious than before, looking Kitty up and down as she now stood very close to him, "The same little girl, who I ended up gettin' into a fight because of when those other kids took that stupid Barbie of yours."

"Yeah, I guess I'm not." Kitty said, as she stood there on moonlit night and looked up into Lance's big, brown eyes.

The two Illinois natives then stood together in silence for moment, with Kitty pensively reflecting on just how much she really had matured both mentally and emotionally in that time. Although, what Lance had been referring had more to do with those more 'physical' aspects of Kitty's growth than anything.

"I brought this for you." Peter now said, as he came through the entryway onto the balcony with a small glass for Kitty in his hand, unknowingly interrupting this quiet interlude out on the balcony between her and Lance, as he very quickly came to notice that his _Katya_ was not out there alone.

"Oh, hi Peter. Me and Lance were out here talking about when we were kids, back home in Deerfield. You remember Lance, don't you?" Kitty now asked him, as she saw a stone-faced expression instantly wash over Peter's face.

"Yes. I remember him quite well." Peter solemnly replied to Kitty's inquiry, as he stared at Lance over on the balcony right next to her.

Peter also managed to recall wanting to very much knock Lance completely unconscious when the two first met in New Mexico following the defeat of the Sentinels, and that he had only deferred then at Kitty's request.

But, far from feeling afraid of this massive mountain of a human being in front of him, Lance walked right over to Peter and intensely stared right back into the Russian's eyes for a short while, before deciding to make his move.

"There. That's all better now, Petey-boy." Lance smirkingly said, as he had gone over and reached up to tauntingly straighten the bow-tie and lapels on Peter's tuxedo jacket for him. Then, Lance turned back around to speak to Kitty again.

"I'll talk to you later, Pryde." Lance told her, before turning and going back through the balcony's doorway, with Peter's eyes piercingly fixed upon him the entire time, until he was out of his sight.

Lance had now intended on heading back inside to the ballroom, so that he could go find John and the others. But, he was surprised when he ran into yet another individual, who seemed to have also taken a profound interest in him.

"Funny runnin' into you in here, Roulette." Lance said, as Jennifer Stavros was standing there to meet him in a small inter-connecting area that lay in between the balcony and the ballroom, "I figured you'd be busy inside, chasing behind that rich, stuck-up boyfriend of yours."

"For the last time Manuel's not my boyfriend! And besides, I don't chase behind any guy, I don't care how much money he's got." Jennifer replied, as she stood leaning up against a wall in the area.

Jen had come in there only after John found her and Tabitha, and then had mentioned to them that he had last seen Lance heading out towards the balcony area.

"Well, when was the last time you had a guy chase after you?" Lance inquired, as he managed to catch Jennifer off-guard with his question.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jennifer asked him in response, as she ran her left hand through her long blonde hair and then pulled downward at the bottom of the tight, black leather dress that she had on. Jen had put on such a provocative choice of attire to wear to the Gala on a dare from Tabitha, a dare which had wound up winning Jen twenty dollars from Tab in the process.

"It's not a trick question." Lance told her, as he then came over to Jennifer and propped his arm up against the wall right next to her, leaving just a few inches of space between them, "You think I haven't seen you checking me out all the time?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." Jennifer replied, as the normally cool and collected teen looked down at the ground, and felt her pulse race just a little at the realization that Lance had figured out her crush on him, and that he had noticed her more than casual observations of him over the last few months.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talkin' about. But, you still didn't answer my question." Lance said, as he further surprised Jennifer byleaning forward and now whispering every word into her ear.

"What, you sayin' you're ready to become a pursuer? You don't much seem like the type to me." Jennifer now smiled, as she regained her composure and stood back a little before speaking to Lance.

"When you get down to it, I think we're both a lot more alike than you wanna admit. But to answer your question, I only chase after somethin' if it's worth bein' caught." Lance smoothly replied with his brown eyes now locked onto Jennifer's bright-green ones.

"And what if I said I'm not interested in being caught?" Jennifer asked him, as she proceeded to flash Lance a restrained, but curious smile in response to his remark.

"Then, I'd say a poker-faced bluff might actually live up to your nickname, if I didn't already know better." Lance smiled, as he slowly ran his hand through her blond locks.

"Well then, why don't we go find out if you're right, and see who really has the better poker-face?" Jennifer smirked and rather bluntly insinuated to Lance, as she was certainly not one to back down from anyone or anything.

Lance then took Jennifer by the hand, as the two of them nonchalantly walked back into the ballroom together. Although, the ballroom certainly wouldn't be their final destination for this evening.

**………………………………………..**

As Lance and Jennifer came in and managed to slip up the stairs to one of the Hellfire Club's private suites' unnoticed, the rest of their classmates continued enjoying the festivities down in there in the ballroom. In particular Bobby and Angelica, whom Bobby had asked to dance with him following their emotional episode with John and Lance, were out on the dance floor together as the songs had slowed down significantly now that the hour was much later in the evening.

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked Angelica, as the song that was playing while they had been dancing together had just now come to an end.

"Well, the song's over." Angelica pointed out, as she had started to walk off of the dance floor, but had turned back around to face Bobby when he spoke to her.

"That's why they hired a DJ, another one'll be on in just a sec." Bobby replied, as he had reached out to gently take hold of her arm.

"You mean, still wanna dance with me?" Angelica inquired, as she had believed that Bobby's asking her out there in the first place was nothing more than him just trying to be nice to her.

"Sure. That is, unless you don't feel like it." Bobby told her.

"No, Ifeellikeit, Ifeellikeit!" Angelica excitedly said to him, as Bobby now took her by the hand and they went head back out onto the dance floor. They were now joined by Rogue and Remy, John and Tabitha, Doug and Jubilee, Amara and Manuel, Dani and James, Joanna and Harlan, & Kitty and Peter, who themselves had just returned from the balcony outside.

While the rest of their classmates sat and looked on, the couples began to dance as an acoustically somber version of D.H.T.'s Listen to your Heart began to play, and Bobby went to put his arms back around Angelica's waist. Meanwhile, Angelica placed her arms back up around Bobby's shoulders and gently clasped her hands together behind his neck.

For Angelica, moments like this in her life had been few and far in between. And to have been asked out, well sort of, to dance at the ball by the guy with whom she had been thinking about ever since their first meeting all of those weeks ago, and whom she had also developed a considerable crush towards, was as about as close to a Cinderella story that Angelica felt that she would ever get to experience. So, the girl from West Morris closed her eyes and placed her head against Bobby's chest, as she simply savored every moment of being there with him, all the while their bodies slowly moving to the music together.

As one song flowed into another, Bobby and Angelica ended up spending the entire rest of the evening dancing together. Which the Massachusetts Academy's Headmistress certainly took notice of, as she sat at a table off to the side of the dance floor. Emma Frost now believed that her plans were progressing along perfectly, just as she had fully hoped and intended that they would.

But, given the best-laid of plans, there are times when even well thought-out designs can backfire, and ultimately end up working just a little too well…

**………………………………………**

Epilogue, part I-

Within the aged walls of The Hellfire Club there lay a great many secrets, which only a select few among the Club's membership were to ever be made privy to. One such secret was the fact that there existed a sophisticated camera surveillance network, which ran throughout the Club and gave those elite members unfettered access to, often showing some of the more tantalizing activities that took place there.

And as the Hellfire Club's President Sebastian Shaw could attest to, it did at times provide for some very interesting voyeuristic instances. One such example would be what he was seeing at the moment, as the man who also held the secret title of Black King within the Club's elite Inner Circle and was dressed the part in his eighteenth-century styled black suit, sat back in an armchair with a very tall back to it and viewed the monitor sitting on the desk in his private office within the Hellfire Club. In one of the private suites', he saw two individuals in there who had managed to pick the lock on the room's door and that had proceeded to let themselves in, while unwittingly setting off the room's silent alarm.

Recognizing the trespassers as Lance Alvers and Jennifer Stavros, two of Emma Frost's students, Sebastian was at first tempted to have word sent down to the White Queen in the ballroom about her young charges' activities. But, as the pair sat in there and began to trade shots with one another from a bottle of _Jose Cuervo Gold_ that they had procured on their way in, Sebastian watched Lance and Jennifer imbibe a substantial amount of alcohol in a very short amount of time. The result was a quick loosening of whatever inhibitions that they may have had left, as Lance and Jennifer let their more prurient desires completely takeover. Lance and Jennifer started off with heavy kissing and groping of one another on the spacious king-sized bed inside of the room, before they rapidly moved onto acts of much greater intimacy.

All the Black King could do was smile, thinking to himself that these two at least embodied the true spirit of why The Hellfire Club had been originally founded. Sebastian then turned his attention away from what was going on in that particular suite, and went back to looking at the short analysis report given to him by Emma earlier, which had been delivered to him inside of an unmarked file folder that he had just opened up on top of his desk:

_Sebastian,_

_Here is a rundown of those students of Xavier's, whom I had briefly mentioned in our last conversation. I believe these to be the most likely to accept an offer to join us, given the proper and ideal circumstances._

_ Emma-_

_Aquilla, Amara- The Inner Circle has a vested interest in Brazil's Maderia region, which surrounds Amara's homeland of Nova Roma. With our operations already underway within Nova Roma's government, it may be possible to use her step-mother Selene Aquilla to help us in recruiting the girl, when the time is right._

_Da Costa, Roberto- Father is_ _Emmanuel Da Costa, who had displayed a decided interest in joining both The Hellfire Club and our Inner Circle when I spoke to him in Rio, after my departure from Nova Roma. Were we to admit him, I presume that he would naturally bring his son into the fold as well._

_Pryde, Katherine (Kitty)- In addition to having an understated, but extremely useful mutant power, this girl also possesses an advanced IQ level which may possibly place her among the nation's top percentile bracket. The only difficulty, drawback really, that we may encounter here are in regards to her father Carmen Pryde. A banker by profession, through a few reliable contacts within the Hellfire Club I have learned that the elder Pryde has unwittingly become entangled within a number of other underworld networks organizations, including laundering and reinvesting proceeds for Chicago's organized crime families, as well as incongruously implicating himself and the bank that he runs in other criminal ventures internationally. Despite the girl's obvious value and the leverage we may be able to employ in regards to her father, she may prove in the end to be more trouble than even she is worth, and it would serve Xavier right if we were to leave this little ticking time-bomb square in his lap for him to deal with._

_Lebeau, Remy- My how the apple has fallen so very far from the tree.__ While technically not a student, he has become a part of Xavier's little mutant police force. Both Erik and myself were surprised by his unexpected shift in allegiance from his family's life of crime. See the attached dossier for further details regarding both his, and the Thieves' Guilds, domestic and international activities, which I am certain that you already have a glancing familiarity with._

_Unuscione, Carmella- A very recent arrival to Xavier's, I was only made aware of her enrollment when her name appeared on the guest list for the Massachusetts Academy's Fall Gala. I believe that I may have solid evidence of a familial link between her and one of Erik's former associates, and will keep you apprised once this has been confirmed._

_Drake, Robert (Bobby)- A former local resident of suburban Boston, both he and John Allerdyce have maintained close ties to one another, who may be able to provide some influence in Robert's recruitment. Were he to defect just as Pyro did, it may open the flood-gates to drain Westchester dry. One of my students, Angelica Jones, also seems to have an impetuously amorous affinity for him, which may also provide additional incentive in helping to convince Drake to champion a new cause._

As Sebastian now laid the file down on his desk and switched the surveillance monitor to the feed from within the auxiliary ballroom, he watched as the Gala taking place tonight moved into its final hours. While Emma's machinations for bringing some of these other young mutants into the service of the Inner Circle seemed like a sound one, Sebastian had been around far too long to rely solely on such a scheme as a means of securing power.

No, Sebastian Shaw had various 'other' means at his disposal with which to deal with Xavier and his X-Men, should they ever decide to become an obstacle in his way…

**…………………………………….**

Epilogue, part II-

Fall was now definitely in the air, in just these few weeks after the Massachusetts Academy's Gala in New York. Things at Xavier's School for the Gifted had pretty much gone back to their usual routines, with one of those routines being the daily mail call.

"Say _Cheré_, looks like I got a letter here just for you." Remy said, as he came into the room that Rogue and Jubilee shared and stood just inside of the doorway.

"A letter?" Was Rogue's response, as she sat up and put the textbook that she had been reading down on the bed beside her.

"_Oui_." Remy said, as he took the beautifully-decorated envelope in his hand, which had was addressed to Marie D'Acanto in care of the school and that Sam had picked up from the floor near the mail drop in the foyer, before handing it to Remy to deliver to his girlfriend.

"This is some pretty fancy–lookin' junkmail, that's for sure." Rogue jokingly said, as she now held the envelope in her hand and examined the gold-printed writing on its outside.

"You ain't got some other guy on de side, one dat you neglected t'tell me about?" Remy playfully inquired of her, although he was just as curious as she was as to who the sender of the letter was.

"Uh-huh. It's this whole other fella Ah've been runnin' around with, considerin' all the spare time Ah have on my hands around here." Rogue looked up from her bed and sarcastically replied to Remy, and then went back to visually inspecting the front and back of the envelope, but not seeing a return address anywhere on it.

"You gon' open it, or make me stand here all day waitin'?" Remy now crossed his arms and asked her.

"My, aren't you impatient?" Rogue laughed, as she now intentionally took her time in opening the envelope, just to make Remy sweat a little.

As Rogue slowly pulled what looked like a card from inside of the envelope, Remy watched as she slowly read its contents, and observed that a noticeable smile came across her face, right before,

"**Whoo-hooo**!" Rogue began excitedly shouting, her eyes still trained on the card in her hand, "**This is so incredible**!"

"What, you win de lottery or somethin'?" Remy humorously asked her.

"Better than that, this is from Logan." Rogue told Remy, as she placed the now closed card down against the top of the thigh area of the sweats she had on.

"Sounds like he's doin' pretty good over in Japan, _neh_?" Remy surmised.

"Oh, Ah'd say he's doin' a whole better than good. Here, take a look at this." Rogue told Remy, as she finally handed him the card that had been ornately-embossed on the front.

"Alright, you're the one always givin' me grief about keepin' up noise while you're tryin' to study. So, when I decide to go 'n get lost for a while out of the kindness of my heart, I end up hearin' you hollerin' all the way down the hallway in Kitty's room. Just what's got you yellin' like you're some sorta desperate housewife or somethi--" Jubilee was saying to Rogue as she came into their room, when she unexpectedly saw Remy standing in there with her, "Never mind. Next time you two decide to start actin' out one of your kinky sex-chat fantasies, just make sure you close the door first."

"Ain't nothin' like dat, _Jubilé_. Rogue's just happy 'cause we just got dis in de mail from Logan and Mariko." Remy said, as he now handed the envelope to Jubilee for her to read, with the interior of the card inside of it having been addressed to everyone on Greymalkin Lane.

_The pleasure of your company_

_Is honorably requested for_

_The wedding of_

_Lady Mariko Yashida_

_To_

_John Logan_

_At the Ancestral Compound of _

_The Clan Yashida_

_Northern Prefecture of Agarashima_

_R.S.V.P._

_-P.S.- Rogue-darlin', make sure you tell the whole gang that they're all invited, we're gonna celebrate things right, and maybe keep Tokyo up all night!_

_(And tell Kurt that now'd be a good time for him to fess up the couple cases of brew he still owes me, since they'd come in handy about now too!)_

"I'm puttin' everyone on notice here and now, anyone jumps in front of me and the bouquet being tossed out, and you'll seriously be pullin' petals out from where the sun don't shine for the next week." Jubilee and happily announced to Rogue and Remy, who just like her, were all smiles after reading the news of their friend and mentor's wedding announcement in the invitation, which had come complete with a five-by-five picture of the bride and groom to-be.

**………………………………………………………………………..**

**To Be Continued, in two new Mini-fics…**

In **Coldfire**, Iceman and Firestar are in for the fight of their lives, as they face-off against the Brotherhood in the ultimate showdown on the streets of the Big Apple, and end up receiving some unexpected, but welcome help from a certain friendly neighborhood web-slinger!

And in **Land**** of The Silver Sun, Part II**, the rest of the gang head off to Japan for Logan and Mariko's impending nuptials. But, the happy couple might not even make it to the altar, especially if Viper and her splinter faction of the covert terrorist-organization known as H.Y.D.R.A. have their way, and as an X-Man will be changed forever in the erupting conflict…

**…………………………………………………**

A/N: Special thanks to those that reviewed the last chapter-

**Doza**- The Kitty story was basically like you said, just some origin-stuff to flesh out a few of her movie-verse differences from her comic-counterpart. And the action is definitely on its way now!

**Independent Fire**- Glad you liked the all of the backgroundey stuff last chapter, and I think you're really going to get a kick out of the stories coming up next.

**El Varon**- 'The Incredibles', huh? Well, I'm just flat-out honored to be compared to such a fine piece of animated cinematography (I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I really did like that movie and can't wait for the sequel!) And if you liked Lawrence the jerk, then I think you'll just absolutely love what happens when Viper turns the deadly Lady Hydra loose on the X-Men…


End file.
